Day 1: Cape Town to Bloemfontein (start odometer 0km)

Question - does this count? I suppose so, but it was the N1, N1…!

Amidst some teary and bleary eyes at 6:30am we bade farewell to our family and set off, the Doddle 5 has begun and 1040km later we pull into a B&B just outside Bloemfontein and get surprised at the amount of English spoken in the local pub/restaurant. It's an uneventful day except for some extreme downpours about 100km before Bloemfontein which see some drivers pull off the road altogether and most of us down to 50km/hr.

Day 2: Bloemfontein to Randburg.

We plan to stay with the Colliers tonight and together with the Hogans go to see Bruce Springsteen. Lots of beer and lots of rain (we're in the standing area in the centre of the FNB Stadium) but by then we are beyond caring (possibly beyond seeing and hearing too). The concert was all that it was cracked up to be although we were not overly impressed with his new stuff, but when the old stuff started the crowd went wild.

Day 3: Randburg to Camp Africa (end odometer 1908km)

Slight trepidation to meet our fellow travellers in Louis Trichard mainly due to me hanging so badly. We got off to a late start but it was another N1 trudge, and we pitch up at Camp Africa at around 4:30pm - but not to worry, the beers are already flowing (and I actually managed another 2). Our guide (Dave) who also runs Camp Africa, and his helper Karlien are great and we had already met Brian and Sue in Franschoek in December. A late-ish braai saw us in bed at 10pm, and some hectic rain storms overnight - seems like rain is becoming a theme here!

Day 4: Chilling at Camp Africa

There's no water this morning as the water pipe is blocked by leaves at the waterfall entry - I don't smell too bad as yet and believe it could get a lot worse!

Well that's his opinion!! Let's just say this is not exactly living in the lap of luxury (NOT Suzy-style!!). I can cope with a single bed in a pre-fab shack, but no water in the ablution block is not fun. Not a great start and if its gonna get worse…..I'm in for a rough ride!!