Camping at Buck’s Camping Lodge, Henties Bay
Distance 29 + 11347 = 76
Average 12.1
Time 2 h 24 m
Total from Amsterdam 16747
Location S23.11192, E14.2818

It will be a hop, skip and a jump to Henties Bay so we had a bit of a lie in this morning. I caught myself inadvertently putting the whole loo roll in my cycle pants pocket this morning ???? … I always keep some loo paper in my pocket each day in case of emergencies but this was going a bit overboard.

I think Peter’s nearing the age of 60 … I asked him how far he thought it was to the road from our wild campsite … don’t talk to me, I’m counting … 41, 42 43 and so on. I looked back and he was pushing his bike and taking huge strides … I said, why don’t you just check on the bike computer when we get there, Mmm ????, I rest my case. The distance was 334 metres.

On the road and almost ready to ride …
Peter: Col, come now lets go …
Me:  I’m typing up your goofy remark about metres to the road …
Peter: hurry up, I’m getting cold, then he says  so while you’re doing that I’ll turn the map around to the section we’re riding today. Why is he rushing me when his map needs to be turned over !!
When we reached the gravel road I have no idea why this Afrikaans ditty came to mind but as kids I remember my Dad and Uncle Coney used to sing it at New Year’s eve parties …

“”Jy  kan nie kos maak nie, jou kos is rou …
Jy kan nie tee maak nie, jou tee is flo …
Dis daar waar die son en die maan ondergaan, bokkie jy moet huistoe gaan.
Nee nee nee my dolla nee, nee my dolla nee, nee my dolla nee
Nee nee nee my dolla nee, ek vry nie met ‘n loskop tolla nie””.
It’s about a guy who says his girlfriend can’t cook, her food is raw, she can’t make tea, her tea is weak … then she replies that she does not want to canoodle with a guy who is unreliable.
After only riding  3.63 km, gravel suddenly turned to a smooth salt road. At this point we met Christie who is working on the project of tarring the road all the way to Uis. Pumped up our tyres and we were flying on this lovely smooth road. Arrived at the T junction, left to Henties Bay and right to Torra Bay, and straight leads to the Atlantic Ocean. My dear husband then convinced me that we needed to dip our toes into the freezing Atlantic ocean as the last sea we saw was the Indian Ocean in Dar es Salaam when we stayed with John and Tessa. I rode/pushed the 2.08 km to the seashore, cursing him the whole way. We didn’t dip our feet into the water as we were up on a steep sandy cliff and it was misty and freezing cold. Took the pics as evidence and pushed the 2.08 km back. Not 2 km further I felt my back wheel bottom out … bugger, a flat tyre. I was convinced it was the valve and after pumping it a few times, turned out to be just that, so my puncture count from Amsterdam was 2 in Europe and 1 since Cairo = 3 compared with Peters countless number of punctures. By now we were starving and headed to the first little restaurant that looked inviting, Nam Pies. We had home made pies, gravy, salad and chips N$45. Hot chocolate for me and a mug of filter coffee for Peter. Next stop was Buck’s Camping Lodge where the lady gave us a good rate at N$100 pp. Tent pitched and then went in search of a pub to watch the SA NZ rugby game tomorrow morning. Shopping for supper ingredients and to replenish all the sweets and biscuits we’ve devoured the past few days ??. We did buy a bottle of red wine to warm the cockles of our hearts but will need a good few glasses to do this. I had washed the outside of all my panniers as they were filthy from gravel riding and we both gave Zaza and Muffin a quick rinse to get rid of the clay sand clogging brake cables, mudguards etc. We holed up in our Mutha Hubba tent then Peter made a delicious stew with mince and veggies. I stood under a steaming hot shower for ages washing away two days of sweat and sand, also to try and warm up. I might just wear my waterproof sealskin socks to try and warm my freezing feet. A mug or two of red wine, hot food and the showers have warmed us up and we’ll shortly head to our snug tent and -6°C goose down sleeping bags to watch a movie or a Bones episode. Night all, thanks for following xx

– Our wild campsite, 29 km from Henties Bay

– Damp red sand was a pain in the butt ????

– Peter and Christie on the road soon to be tarred

– The grader that smothered the smooth salt road in tacky red clay sand ??

– The freezing Atlantic Ocean at Henties Bay

– West coast, Henties Bay, Namibia

– Going fishing