RI7ER JOURNAL POSTS
The Pure Orange Expedition Journal - Hanging out at Blouputs winkel(shop)
Thursday, 26 March 2009
A short paddle today to Blouputs - a little confusion with the map reading - the place has developed a lot since I was last here 11 to 12 years ago. A new tar road, new bridge, a new settlement on river right, called Vredevallei, where a lot of farmhands live.
When I got here, I parked my boat (tied to a tree) floating in the shade, and then went for a walk to find a shop to get some food and a much-needed recharge of camera batteries. I filmed and photo’ed a lot in the Augrabies Gorge.
An hour on the road and I arrived at the Blouputs Winkel (store), which is owned by Willie Basson but run by a fellow named Moses. An awesome guy who helped me out with extension leads, cold Cokes, and a beer crate for a chair (although I ended up sitting on, and then catching a nap on the cooler cement floor) waiting for my batteries to charge.
I was there from about eleven in the morning until 5:30 p.m. I then bought some chicken and beers and took the walk back to my boat just upriver from the bridge. Made comms today with my family who were well happy that I was through the gorge in one piece.
Cooked up the chicken, drank the beers and lay down in the sand looking up at the stars while recollecting the week past spent upriver in the gorge.
By 9 p.m. I was fast asleep.