Women's Day - Honingklip - August 2011 by Pauline Wilkinson I am still not 100% sure how I ended up being coaxed by Russell into writing this report ... but somehow he did, so here it goes! Having woken up bright and early on Tuesday Morning (9th August 2011 - National Women's Day), and no, that did not qualify me for breakfast in bed, hubby and I made our way to Peregrine farm stall via Grandma and Grandpa to drop our 11 week old son. It was a crisp morning, the icy chill welcoming us all on the outskirts of Grabouw. Luckily the Farm stall was just opening and a cup of coffee was definitely in order. As it was Women's Day (and all the ladies were driving - next time Russell we hope you will wear your tu-tu) Russell made sure all instructions were very simple and so the briefing took only a few minutes (although we had to take a moment to convince Susan to get out of her vehicle and join us). The ladies took the wheel and we headed off to Honingklip via the scenic route, along the old Houw Hoek gravel pass which runs parallel to the train tracks. A few discussions were had by Radio, as Russell so kindly pointed out how beautiful the view was (as he would since he had chosen this route), and Johann Tyres debated why there was an extra train track on the inside of all the turns (I tried to Google this but still am not quite sure why the railway track is like this?)? Once in Botriver we continued on in the direction of Kleinmond before turning off onto the Honingklip Farm. The first order of the morning was a quick tour of the Flower Factory (Which entailed more exercise in the form of walking than anyone prepared themselves for). This proved to have all the ladies begging for samples of the flowers, to which the owner was not very obliging. It really is amazing to see the variety of finished product created from Proteas and other simple foliage. What may look like a pile of flowers to be thrown away to us, is transformed into the most amazing décor. Most of which is sold internationally. After the tour we headed out on the 4x4 trail. As a first time 4x4 driver, I found the trail to be an excellent introduction, with a few obstacles that allowed you an opportunity to experience the various challenges our husbands face on a regular 4x4 basis. We first drove around a small obstacle course with axle twisters, log bridge (which we all decided to skip on this occasion), more logs, sand hills for angle driving, and a nice relatively high sand heap (well in my opinion it was high). All ladies managed the obstacles with relative ease. Next we drove on to the Sand Pit, and it was here the first bit of treachery began, after the Barbie Cruiser (LOL have to laugh as it was the first time I had heard this term and I had actually asked Russell about it that morning - well the Barbie proved to be quite a "feature" in the day) made 3 attempts to run up a slightly muddy sand hill without any joy. With all this the next 2 vehicles decided to skip that part of the track and it was my turn next. With hubby's excellent coaching ("just put foot") I managed to climb the sand bank on the first attempt ... thereafter Johann Tyres had to show off and crawled the bank behind me ;). All seemed to be going well, until a frantic call on the radio informed us that the Barbie had "De-Beaded" (Like I knew what that meant???). Ok, so with the 3 attempts at the sand pit the Barbie's tire had come off - "Well why didn't you just say so?" About 20 minutes later we were back on our way again ... for about 20 mins until the tyre deflated again due to sand in the bead causing a leak ... Johann Tyre to the rescue. The trail made its way through a river crossing, which all ladies managed to manoeuvre with some coaching from the boys. We then zig zagged up the mountain much to my disliking, those angles just do not feel safe. Further on up the mountain we went with no major obstacles. The view from the summit (Approximately 590M above sea level) was beautiful all across the bay. We were then enlightened once again via radio, that "should there be a Tsunami, that entire bay would be gone" The ladies were now getting desperate for some comfort and we headed back down the mountain to our braai spot. Here we relaxed and had some well-deserved food (which the men of course prepared for us). Finally it was time to head on home, so we packed up and before you could say 4x4 ... all the men were back behind the steering wheel. We headed back via the Highlands Pass to Peregrine. Once there it was time to re-inflate tyres and bid our farewells!! Some interesting concepts I learned about 4x4: The accelerator does have a middle ground between slow and flat out apparently. Left and Right are 2 distinct different directions. This is a difficult adjustment if you come from a "this way" and "that way" background. The clutch is not there as a foot rest. What goes up must go down. Fortunately we came down the mountain a different way than we went up. Dankie tog! Thanks to Russell for organising the trip, it was most definitely a great opportunity for us ladies to get "bitten" by the 4x4 bug!! "Liefie, can I have my own 4x4 now please?"