Poland, Gdansk, 02 – 06 Aug 2024

Wolgast to Gdansk, Poland – this was a marathon 400 km in 6:30 hrs (which is about 2:30 hrs more than it should have taken) along the Baltic coast. I never knew that this area was so popular during the summer holidays but for people who live in the North of Europe the Mediterranean is just too far away and the beaches along this coast are the only alternative. People who prefer cooler weather also prefer the northern beaches. Therefore the coast road was very slow going with a lot of holiday traffic, though it did have stretches of freeway which are being extended and the roadworks caused even more delays hahaha. The problem with stop start trafffic and going slow on a bike is that there is no airflow and it gets very hot wearing a jacket. 

Anothert surprise was Gdansk itself, it has to have one of the most picturesque Old Towns in Europe and it was packed with people, children, babies and dogs hahaha. Every step was like an obstacle course there were so many people no matter where I was and the Old Town is a large area, a great place to walk around. Public transport is by tram, train and bus all modern, tickets are 4.80 zloty about one Euro a ride. You can pay for them with your credit card at machines on all the tram platforms, my card did not work with the machines on the busses. You can pay for everything here with your card, no need for cash. The roads are good, traffic follows the rules and gives way to pedestrians at crossings, something I have to get used to again after spending 3 months in Africa hahaha.

Day trip to Gdynia where I discovered art on the streets. I also visited the museum. The train from Gdansk takes 30 minutes and costs PLN 7.60.

Gdansk was bombed during WW2 and much of the city was destroyed.

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Germany, Wolgast, 31 July – 01 Aug 2024

Hanover to Wolgast, Germany – freeway most of the way with congestion around Hamburg due to roadworks. So far cool and cloudy with no rain, perfect riding weather.

I stopped here to visit Peenemunde where the V1 and V2 rockets were developed during the 2nd WW. The scientists who worked here went on to work on rocket programs in other countries after the war ended. They also had a Rocket U-boat which was never used in anger on display, open to visitors.

 

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Germany, Hanover, 28 – 30 July 2024

Veghel to Hanover, Germany – freeway all the way and being a Sunday no trucks only summer holiday traffic. 

Hanover – population 545,000, not a big city. It is famous for the annual Trade Fair the “Hannover Messe” which is one of the largest trade fairs in the world. They also have the second largest Oktoberfest after Munich. Public transport consists of Trams, Busses and the subway, cost 3.40 euro a single trip or 6.80 euro for a day ticket. Overall a nice place to visit with some old churches with very tall steeples. I did discover some Street Art which was a bonus.

Street Art Quest

I followed the Red Thread tourist trail around the Old Town, an interesting walk.

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Netherlands, Veghel, 21 – 27 July 2024

Hastings to Veghel, Netherlands – its good to be back on my bike again, not cooped up in a tube, waiting at airports, taxis, immigration, security, crowds, a nightmare. As far as possible I try to do my long rides on a Sunday to avoid the endless line of trucks on the roads during weekdays. Especially on this section where I have to pass through Antwerp which can take 40 minutes. On a bike I can get around the traffic but I am still dodging trucks all the time which is stressful. Once again catch up with friends and on my way.

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United Kingdom, Hastings, 13 – 20 July 2024

Cape Town to Doha 9:35 hrs, 1:55 layover and then another 7:10 hrs to Hastings – cooped up in a tube for so long is tiring. This is where I get my bike registered, insured and the annual inspection MOT done, no problems. Next an oil and filter change catch up with friends and I was on my way to Europe.

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South Africa, Cape Town, 06 – 12 July 2024

Windhoek to Cape Town, South Africa, a two hour flight. I used an Uber to travel to the airport from the City and it cost NAD 260 compared to the official Airport taxi rate of NAD 450. The bank at the airport was open at 07:00 so I could change my leftover Namibian Dollars to South African Rand. The aircraft was the usual small Embraer which we walked to from the terminal. Cape Town on the other hand is a big and busy airport, long queue at immigration. I already had a SIM card for South Africa. Similar to Johannesburg there is a reserved area in the car park for Uber, the ride into the city took 20 minutes and cost R190. 

Cape Town – population 4.7 million and the most tourist friendly place I have visited in Africa. Being winter it rained for all the seven days I spent there. Table Mountain Cable Car and the Robben Island Tours were both cancelled due to the weather, winter is not the best time to visit Cape Town. I did get to go on a Wine Tour which was very nice and being wet did not matter. The Waterfront is an area with shopping centres and restaurants and is a good place to spend some time. During the day the CBD is safe but I was warned not to go out after dark.

Wine Tour to Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Pederburg.

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Namibia, Windhoek, 01 – 05 July 2024

Mbabane to Windhoek, Namibia – Crossing the border from Eswatini to South Africa caused some confusion at Eswatini immigration, long queue and then they could not find the Entry stamp in my passport because there was none hahaha, after a few minutes of scratching their heads they stamped my passport, customs waved me through and I was on my way. Had to park again and go through SA immigration, short queue, stamp and go no questions asked, all up allow 30 minutes to get through the border. I first drove to Johannesburg airport a 3.5 hour drive and returned the hire car, there is a Petrol station inside the airport car park complex where you can fill up before you return the car. I went around in circles 3 times first finding the Petrol station and then finding the Car Rental drop off point. There are so many off ramps, if you are in the wrong lane you miss the correct ramp and have to go around or I could have followed the locals and reversed back up the ramps hahaha. Took the shuttle to my hotel and had a rest.

Shuttle back to the airport the next day, at Johannesburg airport you can check in anytime before your flight, I was there 4.5 hrs before departure and they checked me in. Uneventful flight to Windhoek 1:50 hrs, small airport, we were the only plane to land. It would have been stamp and go at immigration but the woman there was smiling as she went through all the pages of my passport examining all the stamps and visas hahaha. First stop was the MTC shop for a SIM card, no queue, NAD 7 for the SIM and 100 for 7GB data for 7 days including some calls and sms US$6. The currency here is the Namibian dollar which has the same value as the Rand. The official airport taxi cost NA$450 to the CBD, on my return journey I used the Yango app and it cost NA$260, the airport is 45 km from the city and takes 40 minutes.

Windhoek – a nice place, clean, organised, traffic follows the rules and there is not much traffic, population less than half a million. Walking around the CBD during the daytime is safe, there are very few beggars and touts and not many pavement sellers. I visited the National Art Gallery where all the paintings are for sale, they had some good historical photographs. The Independence Museum is quite impressive and chronicles the violent struggle that took place in their fight for Independence.

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Eswatini, Mbabane, 28 – 29 June 2024

Maseru to Mbabane, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), this was a long drive, 620km and 8 hours including 2 border crossings. I decided to use a small border crossing at Peka Bridge instead of the main one at Maseru to avoid the chaos, good decision hahaha. I arrived at the border at 0810 (it only opens at 0800), parked and walked to the counter and got a stamp, only took a minute there was no one else there. Boom gate was lifted by the same woman that stamped my passport, across a narrow bridge which is the border and I was back in South Africa. Parked and once again I was the only customer, another entry stamp into SA and all done. After that 6km of dirt road with a few rough patches, meandered along at 20-30kph lots of sharp stones did not want to risk a puncture and onto the highway. Sun in my eyes not much traffic except when close to towns and not many of them, speed limit 100 to 120kph sat on 110kph most of the time, stopped at Bethlehem to fill up and the attendant, a woman cleaned all the glass and the back door which was covered in dust from the dirt road, gave her R10 for her efforts. Carried on a few big towns, grain silos, farming country and some cattle as well. The road varied from good to potholes with cars weaving all over the place to miss them, some new stretches, finally arrived at the Eswatini border. Queue of cars waiting to park and then go inside and get passport stamped by South African immigration, long queue, finished with that then the Police check to see if I have permission to enter Eswatini showed them the Rental documents. Cross over into Eswatini and I missed the immigration counter and did not get an entry stamp but I did pay the Road Tax of R100 and got a receipt for that, even there they asked if I had a Gate Pass and I had no idea what that was or where I should get it from so they made one out for me at the counter. On my way out they checked that I had my Gate Pass and paid the Tax but nobody checked my passport for the Entry stamp. At this point I had no idea what was going on and carried on hahaha a very disorganised border crossing.

Eswatini is one of the wealthier countries and the roads and traffic are organised and drivers follow the rules. There is a nice pedestrian only area in the centre of the town with shops and Malls. I stayed at a Guest House run by a Mauritian Chinese lady and enjoyed home cooked chinese meals while I was there, very nice.

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Lesotho, Maseru, 26 – 27 June 2024

Bloemfontein to Maseru, Lesotho, distance 143 km and it took 2:15 hrs including 30 min at the border. There was quite a crowd at the border, you first have to find a place to park on the South African side and then queue up at immigration to get your passport stamped. Drive a few meters and Customs who waved me through, then the SA police checked my Rental documents to make sure that I had permission to take the car out of the country. I had to pay the Rental company a surcharge of R1,470 for each border crossing. Drive a few metres to Lesotho immigration where I did not have to get out of the car stamp and go, next stop another Booth where I sat in the car and had to pay a Road Tax of 90 Maloti which has the same value as the Rand in cash their CC machine was not working. After that traffic was a mess, continued on through the centre, no marked lines, hundreds of small taxis crawling everywhere, basically chaos but slow moving. Back in the real Africa, meandered along until I got to Lion hill which I wanted to see. I had to turn off onto a road that was a narrow pot holed dirt road with sharp stones running into a shanty town decided it was not worth risking a puncture, turned around and back to the centre. 

Lesotho is one of the poorest countries in the world and this is reflected in the infrastructure. Had a look inside the Mall to get something to eat and then I drove to my accommodation which was 34 km out of town and took an hour to get there. Did absolutely nothing the next day but admire the view which was a more attractive proposition than driving into town hahaha.

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South Africa, Bloemfontein, 24 – 25 June 2024

I hired a car in Johannesburg for 7 days. First stop Bloemfontein where I visited the Boer War Museum. Distance 395 km and it took 4 hours, mainly good 4 lane Toll road all the way, 120 kph speed limit with one mobile speed camera which Google warned me about. 3 toll stops R25.50, R84.50 and R72.50 about US$10 which is expensive for this part of the world as a result there was not much traffic. The countryside was flat with Shanty towns of tin shacks dotted along the way.

I stopped here to visit the Boer War Museum which is very good. The town has a 30% white and 56% black population and is quite civilised with large pot holes which are a feature of South African roads hahaha.

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