I went to my first star party this weekend on a farm deep in a kloof outside Montagu. For those of you who are not amateur astronomers, this involves a bunch of people with large telescopes sitting in the dark all night searching for faint objects millions of miles out into space.
The 8" Dobsonian was wedged firmly across the back seat of my little Golf and the boot loaded with accessories, clothes, a small bag of food for the weekend (it was a B&B without the second B) and a bag full of books on astronomy and geology. I was all set, map on the seat beside me and Edith on the GPS in my phone.
The weather was not looking auspicious - after weeks of heat and clear skies, thunderclouds were moving in from the north and there were already short, sharp showers in Cape Town. It looked as though we were going to have cloudy skies over Montagu - not ideal for stargazing!
Lightning bolts flashed from purple-black clouds as I raced out of the Huguenot Tunnel, caught up in the melee of trucks and 4x4s heading out of Cape Town for the weekend. The awesome Cape fold mountains towered overhead - deep, dark ravines, jagged spires of barren rock and mind's eye pictures of leopards lurking make this one of my favourite road trips.
Unaccustomed to travelling at more than 60kmh on urban streets, I found my foot wasn't as heavy as I thought and it was quite a while before I settled into a steady pace of 120. From time to time, Edith would bleat "You are exceeding the speed limit", so I turned the music up a notch or two. The R62 was lined with lush vineyards, where farmers drove fascinating machines above the vines, stripping the bunches and depositing them in a large tank for transport by truck to the wineries which form the most important industry in this part of the Western Cape. Truck after truck laden with grapes trundled by - the farmers must have been eyeing the unseasonal prospect of rain with a wary eye.
The road from Cape Town, which must surely rate as one of the best in the country, suddenly deteriorated into a badly patched but not potholed stretch through the little town of Ashton, and I began to be alarmed for my telescope's insides, but things improved (although considerably narrower) as I entered the spectacular Cogman's Kloof that meanders through to Montague. This is where you will see perpendicular ridges and z-shaped folds, showing the immense forces of nature that crumpled these mountains into being millions of years ago.
Driving straight through Montague (I lie, I stopped to buy a takeaway bobotie so I wouldn't have to cook!), I followed the R318 northwards out of the town, passing the turnoff to Baden - a place which holds the most vivid childhood memories of holidays at the guest farm. Then it was time to pay careful attention to the directions, as I turned off onto a dirt road to the lodge. Amazingly enough, despite the remote location, Edith coped fantastically. We had only one altercation when she insisted I should turn left and I would have had to drive off the road into a ravine, so I ignored her and she told me she would recalculate the route. Soon we came to the final turnoff to the lodge, and cellphone reception disappeared, but thanks to my marvellous phone, Edith stayed with me.
And that's where things went a bit skew. More tomorrow...
No comments:
Post a Comment