I tap a quick double-hoot to my friends, who swiftly disappear behind their large, black gate. I reverse out of their yard and swing the nose of my Subaru down the street. Auckland Park is still dark. I follow the directions on my phone, which leads me to Empire Road and then the M1 south. At first light I'm on the N1 and thinking about the roughly 850km that lie ahead.
My destination is Cradock. Or, more accurately, my mom's farm about 50km beyond Cradock. I've just spent a month on the road in Botswana, Limpopo and Gauteng, researching stories for the magazine. The Subaru is packed with camping gear and all the random purchases I inevitably collect during a long trip. For example, there's a 10kg sack of birdseed
