Molteno Pass: Mountains, Tires and Flowers

After visiting Carnarvon we decided to drive back to Beaufort West with the Molteno Pass.  First we drove back 65 km to Loxton and then turned onto the R381.  This road from Loxton to Beaufort West is about 114 km and is mostly a gravel road. 
The road was pretty good and we were enjoying the drive. After about 45 minutes we were back in the Western Cape.  Open fields with pretty flowers and mountains surrounded us.  There were no other cars in sight. 

And then this happened….
 We heard a strange noise and then realized that our tire burst.  We had to make a stop to change the tire and while my husband (H) was busy working I walked around to take a few photos of the flowers. 















Soon we were on the road again.  Driving a bit slower and more careful since we used the spare tire.  We soon came to the Molteno Pass.  This pass is South Africa’s first mountain pass and was completed in May 1881.  It was built by master pass builder Thomas Bain and was named after the Prime Minister of the Cape, Sir JC Molteno. 
The trip back to Beaufort West from Carnarvon took us about 2 ½ hours.  It was a great day trip although we had to spend a lot of time in the car.  We left Beaufort West at about 7:30 in the morning and were back at about 16:00.  Our day included visits to Drie Susters, Victoria West, Loxton and Carnarvon.  We relaxed in our room for the rest of the day and just went out to buy a delicious pizza for dinner.

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