Sorry we’ve been out of contact for a couple of days guys but communications have got more difficult and we’ve been hard at it travelling.
Friday 31 Oct Hondeklipbaai - Viooldrift. Not a big flying day 2.5hrs only but not short on excitement!! In order to clear immigration into Namibia we landed on the road at the SA border doging road signs.
We then walked to SA immigration to get exit stamps and then hiked the kilometre through no mans land to get our entry stamp to Namibia. We then walked back into to SA to collect our aircraft. We had to wait by our aircraft while the girls undertook the same process.
Finally we were ready to go and the teenage boy who was our guard for the afternoon stopped traffic to allow us to take-off. The short flight across the border was real washing machine stuff and we were grateful to be back on the ground.
Saturday 1st November. Orange River lodge - Aus. Approx a 3:10 leg over spectacular mountain up to 7000’ with few attractive landing options. Plane performance at these heights (and with lots of baggage) isn’t what were used too. Flight was nonetheless non-eventful until the last 20mins when it got pretty turbulant and Ingrid threw a glove through the prop. Lucky it’s not wooden!!
The airfield was a long way from town so we selected a convenient highway to land on. It proved difficult to taxy from here to town so having checked things out on the ground we selected a smaller road nearer the fuel to land on. The town wad a high spot for both of us at 4700’
Sunday 2nd November: Aus - Weltevrede Take-off somewhat daunting down the gravel roa in Aus…. A 3.5 hr leg over some of the most stunning scenery, just incredible sand-dunes of the Namib desert. The colours were just fantastic although the prospect of an emergency landing in this terrain was a bit scary.
We are carrying 8L of water each and several days emergency rations just in case of such an incident. Oil temps were higher than we’re used to but still within acceptable limits, for once we found ourselves glad of those big radiators. Landing strip was at a guest farm where we are taking a couple of days break.
Tomorrow we planned a lie-in but instead we’re taking a dawn 4 x 4 trip in to the dunes for sunrise,… Next planned stop Windhoek. More Soon. J, J, J and I
Comment by John_Cresswell (2003-11-03 08:56:53)
Saw your 2nd November sheet and good to keep track of your whereabouts. Hope the next leg goes well. Take good care.Graham and Margaret.
Comment by Graham_&_Margaret (2003-11-03 08:59:25)
We have not got the hang of this message board yet but hope this gets to you OK. It was good to read your update today and will look forward to the next bullitin. Tell Julie that the shipment will be there for first week in January. Have a good flight today. Graham and Margaret.
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