A great BBC interview this morning! Being “on the air” at the crack of dawn is a bit demanding, but good fun, and I think it went well! I Left Kimberley this morning after saying farewell to Kent and Mark, and we all set off towards the old battlefield Magersfontein that we had visited the day before. All the aircraft went into a “missing man”-like formation over the monuments and the high ground that the Scandinavians had held. I thought about our visit to the monument –here’s another picture from the site.
Mark set off towards check out at Philensberg, while Brett and Kate and I set a course to Victoria West. It was fine flying over a fairly flat landscape dotted with small hills – not desert, but with the now-familiar scenes of a dry climate with little vegetation. We touched down to stretch our legs at a Victoria West airfield with no staff or people around… We ate lunch and had coffee, and then flew on. Initially I had Beaufort West in mind, as stated in my planned route, but we decided to fly onward and land at very nice town called Prince Albert.
One gets almost a Scandinavian or perhaps Alps feeling at this place, and Africa seems far away. Very pretty and picturesque, with a huge mountain ridge close by, and fantastic weather with very good visibility. We were all very tired and everyone got some afternoon sleep. Brett and Kate dined on their own – Kate is celebrating her birthday today.
Tomorrow, I’ll make a short hop to Oudtshoorn, south of here. I am starting to feel excited – and a little nervous – about reaching the goal, just 2 days from now. I will play it very safe with the flying…My family is airborne at the moment and lands in Cape Town tomorrow. I am so looking forward to seeing them!!
