A story 12 years in the making, or is it 32 years...
As you know, I travel between Cape Town and George (400km+) four times a week. On this road, more or less half way just West of Swellendam, there is a sign called "Vaandrigsdrif".
I used to wonder about this sign when I was in the Air Force based nearby in the early 90's already. The term "Vaandrig" was used as a rank in the SA Navy back then and I always wondered how a Navy rank ended up on a road sign hundreds of kilometeres from the ocean.
I never researched it, but driving past this sign several times a week it piqued my interest again. And not so much the sign, but where it leads...
In any adventure traveler's heart lies the same age-old question: "I wonder what lies beyond that hill?"
I decided that one day, when I have enough time, I will go and have a look!
More weeks passed; a chance to explore this road never presenting itself. I did stop one beautiful day to take the above two pictures. That was the 1st of March 2012.
Fast forward one month...
Today things just fell into place. I got away early, had little traffic and changed cars in Cape Town earlier than usual. The car I was supposed to get was unavailable and I got this Ford Ranger Wildtrak instead. The perfect vehicle!
At last. I had time and the right wheels to do it with. Today would be the day.
I used to wonder about this sign when I was in the Air Force based nearby in the early 90's already. The term "Vaandrig" was used as a rank in the SA Navy back then and I always wondered how a Navy rank ended up on a road sign hundreds of kilometeres from the ocean.
I never researched it, but driving past this sign several times a week it piqued my interest again. And not so much the sign, but where it leads...
In any adventure traveler's heart lies the same age-old question: "I wonder what lies beyond that hill?"
I decided that one day, when I have enough time, I will go and have a look!
More weeks passed; a chance to explore this road never presenting itself. I did stop one beautiful day to take the above two pictures. That was the 1st of March 2012.
Fast forward one month...
Today things just fell into place. I got away early, had little traffic and changed cars in Cape Town earlier than usual. The car I was supposed to get was unavailable and I got this Ford Ranger Wildtrak instead. The perfect vehicle!
At last. I had time and the right wheels to do it with. Today would be the day.
No comments:
Post a Comment