Driver's story: Route 62

CAPE TOWN – ROUTE 62

SOUTH AFRICA

Contributed by: Paul. K

STARTING FROM WHERE?

Cape Town

FINAL DESTINATION

Port Elisabeth

WHAT CAR?

BMW M4 (2017)

WHICH OPINARI PRODUCT(S)?

Men's driving gloves
VELOCITY COLLECTION AZZURRO

THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF KM’S?

850 km’s

AMOUNT OF DAYS?

You probably can do it within 1 day, but because of the many beautiful and impressive sceneries you may want to take a bit more time to absorb the beautiful sights and places.

WHY DID YOU WANT TO DO IT?

We, my girlfriend and I, were on a beautiful trip to the Wester Cape for about three weeks. After spending a full week in the Mothercity CapeTown it was time to discover a bit more of the beautiful sceneries of South Africa. Glad fully, a friend of mine is living in Cape Town and was so kind to lent us his M4 for a couple of days. Since I am a big car fanatic, I couldn’t wish for more;

BEST FOR? (ROOF-LESS CAR, SPORTSCAR, ADRENALINE JUNKIES, RACE FANATICS ETC.)

To be honest, the N62 can be driven by all kind of cars since the scenery is just stunning. The temperature can be a bit high, mainly in the February month so I wouldn’t prefer a convertible. The N62 does have lots of corners and challenging parts so some horsepower makes it even more fun. Driving the M4 was just adding to our experience, even though my passenger got a bit car sick.

THE ROUTE HIGHLIGHTS?

With the impressive Table mountain in our rear mirror, driving the N2 towards the mountains is already impressive. But it’s really getting impressive climbing the Sir Lowry’s Pass which is steep and has beautiful see through corners(be aware of the speed cameras!) After passing the mountains it is really getting interesting with so many different landscapes. The one moment you are driving through a landscape which gives the impression of being in Canada, the next moment you are in a dry desert. We drove the N2 up to Grabouw and took the R321  which lead us to the R62. The R321 was already a road to remember crossing the dams. Side note, the roads were seriously in a good shape, I wouldn’t expected this taking the hot & dry weather in consideration. Moving on to the N62, guys; incredible. Apparently the R62 is the longest wine route in the world, so you can image how it would look like. Stretching wine fields, endless roads, I can barely express it in words.

You drive through small farmer village’s such as Ceres, Calitzdorp and De Rust. All worth stopping and have a small review of the km’s you just drove.  Now, back to the reason why I have added this review; the roads.
The roads are usually wide, even though being two lanes it s easy to pass the car in front of you. The Beemer was having real fun and the six cylinder really proved herself being a terrific engine(not weird having 450 HP). Because of the heat, the tyres were really sticky to the road, giving me a lot of trust in the handling and push that German piece of art a bit more. This of course despite my passenger who got a little car sick. Oh, by writing this short review; Tommy, sorry for the tyre wear. You have valleys with rock walls on both side making you to real focus but the next moment you can see km’s up front. Beautiful, impressive, breath taking.

Our highlights of the trip were really the Sir Lowry’s pass, crossing the nature reserves because of the many corners, Kogmans kloof; the mountain pass (what a stunner!), Huisrivierpas and the part between Ladysmith and Calitzdorp.
I have added some images of our trip for your reference. Bottom-line, the Western and Eastern Cape are just too amazing to drive and cannot be captured within one story, one really needs to experience this!

ADDITIONAL

If you are staying in CapeTown only, I surely would recommend you to drive from CapeTown to Cape Point taking Chapmans Peak with 114 curves over 9 km, it’s a real beauty. Unfortunately it’s impossible to speeds since it’s quite busy and a popular road to drive. A convertible or a AC Cobra (which you can rent in CapeTown) are really the cars to explore this piece of land. Drive back through Simonstown – Muizenberg and take the “Old boyes Drive” or “ Ou Kaapse Weg”, passing the silver mines” to CapeTown. This will take about half a day excluding stops, but again; take your time.