Come drive with us!

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This was our destination today. The historical Bain's Kloof mountain pass.

The pass was built by 2000 slaves and prisoners and it is a historical marvel. But I want you to see most of what we saw and thus I will do the posts in 2 or 3 parts. It was a long road and the dangerous part was in the mountains.
For now, let me show you the first part.

It was early and there in the mist you can see the town of Wellington.
The pass winds across those mountains that you see here.
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No idea what this was as nomally the hay is rolled into big balls, but these looked like pyramids.
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Here you can see the farm land and it was a surprising sight. Maybe it was the after harvest that they collected like this to clean the land.
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Such a weird and amazing sight methinks.
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This statue was placed at the front of a big white church that towered over the town of Wellington.
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And here you can see the church in all of its glory with the statue at the front.
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Did I tell you that it is a historical church and I will do a seperate post on the town, as there are many historical buildings in the town. The architects will love the Cape styles.
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Little Springboks feeding as we left the town on our way to the mountain pass.
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At last we were getting nearer and look at this cosy setting next to the mountain. Might be a lodge or something else.
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What a sight here, as we were now going higher and higher to the entrance of the pass.
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Bang, we have arrived and from here the fun started.
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Two things that we had to overcome. One being that the pass was closed to travelers. And two was that there were dangerous road works in progress along the length of the 25 kilometer pass.
Five security stops and booms across the single lane road were placed every 5 kilometers and they were all in contact on a radio network.
So how did we get permission to cross the pass?
I will show you tomorrow!

And That's All Friends!

Note: All photos are my own and taken with a Canon Powershot SX60HS Bridge camera.

We hope that you have enjoyed the story and the photos.

Thank you kindly for supporting a post by @papilloncharity

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28 comments
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I like Baboons only from the front, the backside not so much 🤣

Really interesting how they stacked the hay rolls like pyramids.

This house below the mountains would be nice to live in and the view is great :)

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
!invest_vote

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Hahaha, I think the baboons know that and that's why they are so fond of showing us their backsides.
To show us what they think of us 🤣

Yeah, I think that it has to be a new type of harvesting machine, as I have never seen that before.
But I will check it out.

Oh man, we think the same and I just cannot tell you about the power of the absolute silence in that place. That is the kind of powerful silence that invades one's soul and I love it.

Cheers and thanks.

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So the Baboons are quite smart 😃

... or the farm workers had just some fun 😉

Yep, silence is an undervalued value and I try to get it as often as I can.

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote

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Hahaha, I have never seen a dumb baboon Hannes, but I have seen many dumb people 🤣

Maybe they had some fun, but I doubt it, as it is hard work out there in the lands and they try to automate as much of the work as they can. That is a vey big land and it would take many farm workers to pack those pyramids by hand.

Thing is that it was not an opressive silence. At the top of the mountain one feels close to the sky and everything is open for miles around. So it is a conquering open and friendly silence that talks to one as your eyes roam all over to take in incredible sights.

Cheers and thanks.

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That's so true my friend, animals know how to use their brain.

Your reason sounds better anyway - they must have new machines.

Yes, I know this kind of silence, it's the silence I am always searching for in the mountains ... and I always find it 😃

!BEER and !PIZZA - nice 😃
!invest_vote

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One can find that silence only in certain places Hannes and it is a diffent silince that one hears in an empty church.
So near the mountain tops that you can almost touch the heaven, open and salient.
Check this cloud shot that I took from the car as we were leaving.
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Glad that you always find that silence and it is truly wunderbar.

Cheers and thanks.

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Some cloud shapes are just strange but beautiful.

Yep, the silence I mean is high up in the mountains, listen to the wind, looking down to the little people in the valley and their mini cars driving busy from place to place. Nothing is important anymore up there, all problems have to wait down there.

!BEER and !PIZZA - nice 😃
!invest_vote

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History about the passes Bainskloof Pass was interesting in using convict labour, many in the region used POW.

Tunnel project was abandoned due to rock fall, not surprised the security stops were implemented if on-going servicing has not been maintained.

Went through here with my Godfather who was an engineer telling the story about many passes and bridges built over time, both my Godfather and his father were involved with bridge building for the Railways.

Any drive in the Western Cape in any direction one finds a wealth of history along with stunning scenery, hope you saw a few Klipspringer while going through.

!LUV

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Oh yes, those old engineers were masters lady Joan and it's simply amazing how they coud beat the odds.

I think that you are talking about the Du Toit's pass tunnel as there's no tunnel on the Bains Kloof pass and the security stops were there to control the traffic of the residents, as many sections of the pass were cut the single lanes, as the roadworks were repairing the pass.
So one would stop and wait if a car was in the pass, until it came past and then they would give us the green flag.

Only one car can fit on this single lane and the drop on the right hand side is a mile down, so it would be madness to try and pass on the right in some places.
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According to history Bain did try to build a tunnel there, but it collapsed and he abandoned the idea, as he then cut a path around the mountain.

We had some tricky parts but nothing serious and it was exhilirating to drive so close to the mountain peak. I call it the place of true silence and no wonder that there is a big Christian camp up there.
Unfortunately they have not used it since the start of Covid.

Here's my secret to be allowed entry to the pass, as it's only open to residents.
The big chief of the roadworks is our friend and also our neighbor here at home, so he invited us for a braai as he stays up there in a cottage and we look after his house here.

Funny how life works out sometimes.

Blessings to you guys.
!LUV
!BEER

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The tunnel was abandoned due to collapsing, apparently one can still stop to see what is left of the tunnel. Earlier generation never gave up too easily, and yes eventually went on around.

Good to have friends in unusual places, ask him about the tunnel perhaps he will direct you to where it is, unless they have stopped that now completely.

Enjoy the region, although I am sure you are back down home by now assisting with meals with the fires raging.

!ENGAGE 20

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Yes we were there but could not see anything as it is totally overgrown.
We had a braai at the little village where Bain built his house and lived during the construction of the pass. He even altered a stream of the river to run past his house.

It was that same friend that invited us to have a braai and when they come here to their house for weekends, he has invited us to go there for weekends. They will work on that pass until August next year. Doing new drains, culverts, replacing the sparse safety rocks at the edges with concrete beams and of course doing the new tarring of the roads.

Yes, we are back home and we support as usual where we can my friend.

!LUV
!ENGAGE20

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