My father was an avid photographer who used an 8 mm movie camera to film our holidays back in the 70s. After his passing, I have always wanted to have these film reels converted to digital format. They offered 3-minute glimpses into my childhood. I found a business, Retro Media, that could assist with this in Hennenman in the Free State, of all places. The owner’s name is Francois, and as we were planning a road trip in that direction anyway, I arranged to drop the reels off with him rather than using a courier company. He could then start the conversion and hopefully be done with it by the time we returned. With that part of our road trip puzzle in place, I reached out to the Stellantis group and secured a car that would be perfect for long days behind the wheel – the Opel’s new Grandland GS Line AT.
The Grandland has recently been updated and is now 17 cm longer than the outgoing model. This meant more space on the inside. The inside is a very nice place to be, and Opel claims that most of the fabrics used on the inside are made from recycled products.
Our road trips normally consist of a vague direction with no bookings. We just drive until we run out of daylight and look for accommodation. Our journey started from my house in Pretoria, and packing for two was effortless in the Grandland. The boot is spacious enough and even has a two-level boot floor. It was reassuring that the Grandland is equipped with a full-sized spare wheel. It is of the steel variety, but I prefer this to the space-saver option.
We drove on the N1 in the direction of Bloemfontein, and this gave me enough time to appreciate probably the most impressive part of the car – the seats. Opel made a big deal about the seats. They are extremely comfortable, and both the passenger and driver seats have a massage facility. With various massage patterns to choose from, there will be one to suit your requirements. Apart from the massage function, they are also heated, and that proved very handy later in the trip.
As far as instrumentation goes, it is par for the course nowadays. Every conceivable feature can be adjusted from the centre screen, but thankfully Opel retained physical buttons for things like temperature, fan speed and the radio’s volume. The car even has a heads-up display showing speed and basic GPS information. The car can detect road signs too and suggest a recommended speed, and if you press OK on the steering wheel, the car adjusts the cruise control to the speed limit. Although the car can connect via Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, I found the built-in navigation working just fine. It is a TomTom unit, and we were never at a loss for a destination.
Traffic on the N1 was heavy for this time of the morning, and I arranged with Francois to meet in Bloemfontein as he was there for some work. After handing over my precious cargo, we peeled away from the N1 and stopped for lunch in Trompsburg. From here, we went on the R717 to Philippolis. Some notable South Africans were born here. One of them was Sir Laurens van der Post. If only I could tap into his storytelling prowess here in the middle of the Free State! Heading further south, the R717 reconnects with the N1 at Colesberg. Here we had to make the call to stay on the N1, or head on the N9 in the direction of Graaff-Reinet. We chose the N9, as we decided that we wanted to sleep over in Nieu-Bethesda.
Nieu-Bethesda is known for the Owl House, but we decided not to fall into the trap of just visiting the ‘must-see’ spots. Instead, we headed out of town for about 7 km to visit the Stonefolk of Ongeluksloot. It might sound like a mouthful, but it was worth the drive. There is a very short hiking trail, and you have to keep your eyes peeled to see all the stone statues, hiding in the rocks. The path is clearly marked, and it was refreshing to be out in nature, stretching our legs.
The Grandland coped admirably with the gravel roads, something that would prove very helpful later on. The car is equipped with Frequency Selective Damping (FSD), which adapts to the road conditions.
The next morning, we set our sights on Glentana to visit old school friends. Crossing the Outeniqua Pass brought back so many memories of past road trips. Our evening was filled with laughter as we reminisced about a time long gone. We spent two nights with friends, but as much fun as that is, the call of the Karoo was getting louder.
We headed to De Rust for a quick lunch and then stopped in the town of Klaarstroom. We popped in with friends for coffee and took a short hike up the little koppie overlooking Klaarstroom. This town is the home of filmmaker Koos Roets, and I can just imagine that this town is enough to get the creative juices flowing. That evening, we stayed over on a working farm outside Prins Albert with some accommodation scattered over the farm. We opted for the self-catering option, as I wanted to have roasted veggies and meat. The evening was fairly chilly, but to awaken the next morning to the sound of sheep and farm life was just amazing. Again, the Grandland took the sandy road in its stride, except all the proximity sensors had a hard time keeping up with all the low bushes around.
One small town I also wanted to visit was the town of Merweville. We stopped for coffee and carrot cake at a coffee shop called “Die Boekklub” This was the setting for a TV drama series that aired from 2016, which made this establishment quite popular. I love these quaint little towns where everyone knows one another. There were groups of people sitting on the ‘stoep’ catching up on life.
Outside the shop, a man was patching a bicycle tyre. I walked over and he introduced himself as Jan. He was patching a tyre for one of the local workers. He beamed with pride as he looked over at his own bike. Tapping it on the saddle, he proudly told me that it takes him three hours to ride from Merweville to Prins Albert Weg Service station, a distance of about 45 km. He also said that he does not even take his bicycle pump or water on his trip. “I trust my car,” he said. What a wonderfully spirited man, taking pride in his bicycle.
From Merweville, we headed to the town of Fraserburg with our ultimate destination being Loxton. I have planned many road trips where I undertook to visit Loxton, but up till now, plans kept changing, and I always seemed to miss the town. Well, 94 km of gravel road stood between me and Loxton. As I was confident by now that the Grandland would cope well with the gravel road, we set off. I took it really easy and eventually pulled into Loxton. For the longest time, I wanted to have a milkshake at a particular restaurant overlooking the church. Sadly, the restaurant in question was in the process of being renovated, so the opportunity went begging. We settled for coffee and scones at one of the establishments on the main square. After that, we decided to spend the night in Loxton. We took a gentle stroll through the town, speaking to locals as we went. I loved the quietness of the town.
Dinner was a traditional bobotie dish, and I must say it went down well! The next morning was very cold, and as we left, the heated seats of the Grandland were a fantastic place to be. We were heading in the direction of home, but I still wanted to go to the enclave of Orania. They have the oddest monument I have ever seen – a monument to the humble koeksister!
My wife and I were contemplating staying over somewhere between Orania and home, but the Grandland’s seats convinced me that we would be able to make it home. We stopped in Hennenman, and Francois had indeed completed the conversion of my films. He showed me a glimpse of what to expect, and he happened to show a snippet of my mother when she was still in her 20s. I knew this was going to be special. But, before I could watch any of the movies, it was getting dark, and we still had another 300 km to go. Fortunately, the car is equipped with amazing headlights. They comprise of more than 50,000 individual elements, and they are exceptionally bright. Not only that, they adapt to oncoming vehicles, switching off all the units that might blind the oncoming car. I can wax lyrical about the Grandland for a very long time, but suffice to say, for this type of road trip, where you spend long hours on the road, the Grandland shines. Our trip was just under 3000 kilometres, and over the entire trip, my fuel consumption was 7.4 l/100 km. Not bad for a 1.6 litre engine lugging around a big car.
When I got home, I immediately started watching these old movies, and I realised that we did a lot of road trips as a family. Almost all of the reels were of us at some holiday destination. Now I know where my wanderlust comes from. It was embedded in me from a very young age. How precious those reels were, immortalised in digital format for me to enjoy!
