Head over Heels 2014

Emma and Mike head off through Henties Baai and into the desert.

Fortunately, we have 100 litres of water, firewood, and a flame torch (yes, I know that’s cheating but its in the tool box, seems a waste not to use it).

We meet for lunch. I’m really pleased I bought the awning to put up shade for Emma. Its hot but there’s a breeze. Avocado and tomato sandwiches. We lay out the yoga mats as seats. We’ve not done any yoga yet, but the mats are useful to sleep on, sit on, as a massage bed and as a ground floor to the tent to make sure we’re not stepping on snakes or spiders. They make good padding too around fragile items in suitcases.

At every stop we set out the solar panel to charge up the leisure battery. For anyone who wants to know we got the kit from Holly Brook Power supplies.

 

 

I’ve also tried out the washing machine, which was suggested by two other travellers who are famous for the idea (I’ll look up their names when its not 3am in the morning before we set off again). It involves putting your clothes in a sealed container with water and washing powder and letting the rocky road shake everything up. I’m impressed my clothes come out pretty clean. Mike puts up an ingenious washing line for me.

Emma sets off at about 3pm after the heat of the day. She runs a total of 38 km, a gentle first day! She’s incredibly chipper at the end and offering to help.

Despite the emptiness of the desert there are animal prints and holes near our camping spot.

Robert gets a fire going and I cook chicken curry without the chicken. I deliberately choose foods that don’t waste water. We’re faffing around afterwards until Mike calls us over to see a baby puff adder. We must have almost parked on top of him. After that we decided boots were a must at night and to pack up and head to bed as soon as possible.