We left Cape Town on a Friday afternoon with a full tank, a cooler box and nothing booked. The idea was simple: drive the R62 east and stop wherever looked good.
Day one: Montagu
We reached Montagu just before sunset and found a room above a garage on the main road. Dinner was a pie from the bakery that was about to close. It was the best pie of the trip, which tells you how the rest of the eating went.
Day two: Barrydale to Calitzdorp
This is the stretch people mean when they talk about the R62. Wide valleys, a few farm stalls and long gaps between towns. We stopped twice for photos and once because a tortoise was crossing the road and we wanted to make sure it finished.
Calitzdorp was quiet. We walked the main street twice and then sat on the stoep of the guesthouse until it was too dark to read.
Day three: back the long way
We turned south over the Garcia Pass and came home on the N2. It added two hours. Nobody complained.
What we would do differently
- Book the first night. Friday in Montagu fills up.
- Leave earlier. The best light on this road is before nine.
- Take cash for farm stalls. Half of them do not take cards.