There were various ways for us to leave the campsite and get to our destination. We could go back south the 3 Km we came, hit the bitumen road then do a wide half circle northwards to get to the main road that was lying north of us. OR we could go from the camp site and head North on small unsealed roads in the midst of the forest, slowly meet larger unsealed roads and eventually meet the main road lying north of us.
We took the second option (mistake number one).
We put on our GPS and headed it in the direction of the main road we wanted to reach (mistake number two).
The GPS passed the first test by turning us right from the camp site northwards. Then we hit a crossroads. After that we were at its mercy. It took us left, it took us right. Down a smaller road, then left down what looked to us like no road at all. (Turn left in…300 metres. Turn left in …50 metres. Turn left in…10 metres. Turn left, then turn right…).
We seemed to be getting deeper and deeper into the woods, we felt like a modern day Hansel and Gretel, but without the breadcrumbs, and only a deranged GPS to help us out. The gingerbread house would appear any minute…
“Turn right in…50 metres…” This was ridiculous. There was NO right turn, maybe a bicycle track if you were lucky. Our poor car and caravan were already trailing enough brush and vegetation to make a good sized bonfire because of the low branches and side bushes they had collected as we went down the narrow trails (at least that would save us collecting fire wood). Not to mention the poor boat on top of the car, that had truly copped it from the low branches. I had had to close my window after getting a slap in the head from a branch that jettisoned through the window as we drove past a little too close to it.
At this pointless ‘left turn’ we were on a fair sized road, so Darren made the executive decision to switch off the offending GPS and keep going forward, which eventually fortuitously met a T junction, and proper sealed road! What was to have taken 20 minutes, took us a good hour or so.
Later we were facing another disappearing road (see photo), when we stopped at beautiful Bridgetown to make a few calls. While Darren talked, I hummed, “We’re on the road to nowhere, hmmm hmm hmmm hmmmmm” By that time we had found our way back onto the map, but from the look of the photo we didn’t know where we were…
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