It's a long way...

Good morning!

The first shot is of where we stopped for a coffee break where we had been winding up a mountain pass where suddenly the mountains drop away before you giving the most fantastic views. Pick your spot carefully though as there were a lot of passing traffic endnote many bushes for a pit stop. The photo doesn’t really do the view justice but it should give the idea of space...

Here are the reprobates let of the bus to give the driver a break...

This snap gives a better idea of the mountains dropping down to a great expanse of flat land with the occasional koppie or mountain sticking up...

Space and mountains every which way you look...

A very pretty flower - no idea what it is….

And where we had our coffee…. (or rooibos tea for me) and toppers biscuits.

This is taken through the windscreen to try and give you an idea of the steepness of the descent. Previously it was dirt but is now paved with block paving which has made it much more accessible...

It was amazing with so much space how much the landscape changed. This is just round one corner and there was a whole load of green. Usually Namibia is very dry and brown at this time of year but they had had some late rain so everything was unusually lush and green...

It was extremely flat and then suddenly some hill would be there out of nothing...

And at the bottom of the pass we were back on long straight gravel roads...

Very flat….

In this shot there are some oryx and mountain zebra…. 

We stopped at a place called Solitaire for lunch. Previously it had been a much of a nothing place with irregular fuel so it couldn’t be relied upon as a stop but they had employed a man called “Moose” McGregor (a Scot) who had started off by selling apple pies. It had become popular so a bakery was built and since then it has been a popular stopping point for refuelling humans and vehicles…. 

Macgregor had died and was buried here but it is still called McGregor’s bakery

We didn’t try these but they looked fabulous...

We did, however, try these - bottom left - cinnamon whirls (going to have a go at making these when we get home) and middle right; "pig’s ears" which are flaky pastry with apricot jam and icing.

The old fuel supply!

There are several old wrecks here and Woody was trying to work out what this one might have been from the little that is left...

We added Rainy England to the chalk board joining others from New Zealand, Holland, Alaska, Norwat, France, Germany etc so not so Solitary after all….

This was in the shop on the way in…. if I got it right it’s a telephone exchange like my grandmother used to work on...

Near Moose McGregor’s grave was a series of stones in the ground with words on and this explanatory plaque...

It really is an oasis in the middle of nowhere though you can now stay there overnight as well as enjoying the bakery...

To give you an idea of the surroundings… the plain is extremely flat and flanked all round by mountains….

It’s a long way to Sossusvlei let alone Tipperary….

The gravel road tails into grasses and then into mountains…. The grass is not as thick as it appears when you get to it but it is a lovely illusion of a meadow...

Next lot is the lodge where we stayed where there were quite a few little furries to keep us company...

Love

B&W