Day 2: Matjiesfontein to Prince Albert

Day 2 started a little fuzzily due to the leftovers (hangovers actually) of our antics with the Vredendal Vellie Brigade. We left Matjiesfontein at 9 and headed on to Laingsberg where a right turn took us off the N1 and toward Vleiland, with much anticipation for the Big One, Swartberg Pass. Just outside Lainsgberg we traversed the aptly named Rooinek Pass and Witnek Pass and were surprised by the number of farming settlements and even weekend cottages around this area. The flowers around here are spectacular enough to give the West Coast a run for it's money. As the scenery gets ever more dramatic and the Swartberg is rising to our North West, we traverse the diminutive Huisrivier Pass (now sadly tarred) and then it's onto the beast itself The Swatrberg Pass. Built between 1883 and 1888 by Thomas Bain and up to 400 convicts, this pass was a real challenge as a new link between the Little Karoo and Great Karoo and was a replacement for the older routes that used the valley floors which were constantly washed away.  It is spectacular and precipitous and we ran out of time to go down to Die Hell today - tomorrow!