Wednesday nights won’t be the same

My husband Hein and I were really sad when the current season of Weg Agterpaaie came to an end in June. We both love exploring the back roads of South Africa. If we have a choice, we always choose gravel. When we go on holiday, we go to places without cellphone reception, TV or other people. We’ve had wonderful Karoo stays around Jansenville, Steytlerville, Graaff-Reinet, Nieu-Bethesda, De Rust, Van Wyksdorp and Sutherland. In 2014, we drove back roads between Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. I drove with our dachshund Willemien and Hein rode his bicycle. His route took him through Gamkaskloof and up Die Leer 4x4 route to Bosch Luys Kloof Nature Reserve, where Willemien and I met him after having driven there via Calitzdorp. Hein was in love with the kloof and I’d fallen hard for Red Stone Hills and Seweweekspoort. Years later, with the help of Weg Agterpaaie, we could share these beautiful places with each other. Our next adventure took us paddling on the Orange River. Afterwards, we hit the road to Verneukpan and almost got lost because there had been heavy rain. The approach to the pan was a mud bath and we got stuck. Two hours later, after scouring the barren landscape for bushes to put under the tyres to get some traction, we freed the vehicle and drove back to the tar road the way we’d come. Thank you, Erns and Toast, for showing us what Verneukpan is meant to look like! KAREN BECKER, Port Elizabeth