As I flew to Cape Town to pick up my car, I watched South Africa pass by from my window, knowing I would soon have to drive all the way back. The landscape varies a lot around Cape Town, but once you hit the highvelt, its straight roads through seemingly endless stretches of the sameness.

There were several interestingly shaped hills on the way, and large communal weaver bird colonies.

As well as the distance, a new problem turned up as I was leaving Cape Town - Daisy caught fire!

She broke down several times on the way, giving me the opportunity to meet some interesting mechanics in the middle of nowhere. One of the times the car ground to a halt was near Matjiesfontein, where I had to spend the night. This is a small place but most South Africans have heard of it because of Lord Milner, a young man from Scotland who made his fortune from railway catering concessions, and built a hotel there.

 

 

 

Update: May 2003

Daisy is limping on, but only just.

At various occassions she has been hotwired, broken into, glued back together and fixed with, amongst other things, a Swiss army knife, bits of cling film, small screws and bits of wire.

I'm finding it hard to accept this is the end of the line for my little monster. We've done about 16,000 kms together over the past seven months, and I can't tell if my fondness for her is because of all those shared experiences, or some form of Stockholm syndrome.