Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not dishing the Free State. It has some stunningly beautiful areas… but not on the N1. Driving the N1 between the Eastern / Western Cape and Gauteng is like pulling teeth. The land is flat and the road just goes on forever. After miles and miles of flat you go up a bit of a ridge and think there would be something interesting on the other side, just to be rewarded with more road stretching towards the horizon.
The only things one get to see along the way are windpumps, the odd farm buildings surrounded by trees planted a hundred years ago by the early farmers to create shade and perhaps some hills in the distance. That’s the scenery for about 600 kilometers. I much rather prefer the scenic Garden Route or even driving through the Karoo.
Its really a case of when you stop it’s somewhere between nowhere and nêrens (Afrikaans for nowhere) where nothing grows about knee high. No offence Free State, but I would rather prefer not driving along the N1 if I can’t help it. In December I’ll make my way through the Eastern Free State towards the Drakensberg. I know that area is very different from this, so I’m looking forward to bringing you some different Free State scenery after then.
The good thing is you can see a very l o n g ways. And the Draks are so spectacular!
I've never travelled the N1. I like the idea of all that wide open space, but I guess the reality is a little different!Eastern Free State is fantastic of course… I look forward to seeing your pics at the end of the year as who knows when I might be lucky enough to visit that area again.
Gives a bit of meaning to the middle of nowhere, doesn't it?
The Eastern Free State is one of my favourite places (but I say that about a lot of places in SA) Clarens has to rank up there at the top though. I loved it and not at all what I thought the FS would look like. Your picture – that is exactly what I thought it would look like.