Knysna – Avontuur
I am a firm believer in the saying, the joy is in the journey. When I travel I don’t just focus on getting to my destination, but I like to enjoy the trip as well. To that end, whenever we go on vacation I try to spread at least one leg of the trip, either coming or going, over two or more days.
With the help of Google Maps I then plot us a route that strays off the beaten path, as it were. I avoid the main highways, stop over in little towns along the way, and sometimes take a road simply to see where it goes. (Once when I did that the “road” turned out to be a quad-trail and I had to go off-road in my bakkie to get back on a proper road, severing the speedometer cable in the process, so not necessarily a good idea.)
This time around I decided to try the Prince Alfred’s Pass between Knysna and the small town of Avontuur (Afrikaans for “adventure”. I don’t know why they chose that name. It’s one of those places you’ll miss if you were to sneeze while driving through and I spotted nothing particularly adventurous.)
This pass, named for the second son of Queen Victoria, was built in the 1960s by Thomas Bain who was responsible for many of the beautiful passes through South Africa’s mountains. A quick online search told me that, even though untarred for its entire length, the pass is driveable with a regular vehicle and our route was decided.
if all else fails...use a hammer 