Driving the R72 to a show and getting home comfortably
The coastal road east out of the Bay is about two hundred and forty kilometres of two-lane tar to the lawn events around Port Alfred and Kenton-on-Sea. It is a gentle drive and a tiring one, for reasons that have nothing to do with the distance.
A coastal road running past grassland towards the sea on a windy afternoon
The road itself, honestly described
You leave the Bay through Bluewater Bay and Motherwell, cross the Sundays River flats, and from Alexandria onwards the R72 runs close enough to the sea to feel it. The surface varies by stretch: good tar for long sections, patched edges around the bridges, and a shoulder that disappears in places where the pineapple fields come to the fence line. Cattle on the verge are normal, especially between Peddie and the Fish River crossing.
Average speed is the thing people misjudge. The limit says one hundred, the traffic says less, and with two fuel and leg stops a loaded car takes three hours to three and a half each way. Plan for that rather than for the arithmetic, and you arrive at a lawn event in a mood to look at cars.
The wind off Algoa Bay is a vehicle factor
Our prevailing south-westerly and the easterly that follows a front both hit this road broadside. A tall seven-seater or a high-sided bakkie wanders noticeably, a long saloon barely notices, and the difference in arrival fatigue after three hours of small steering corrections is large. This is the single most underrated comfort factor on the Eastern Cape coast and it is almost never mentioned on a show stand.
If you are choosing between two cars and one of them is high and light, drive both out past Schoenmakerskop on a windy afternoon before you sign anything. Ten minutes along that exposed stretch tells you more about the next five years of your driving than any amount of time in a hall.
Fuel, food and the cost of the run
Fill in the Bay before you leave, because the price difference along the coast runs against you and the choice of stations thins out east of Alexandria. On indicative numbers, a medium petrol car doing eight litres per hundred kilometres covers the four hundred and eighty kilometre round trip for roughly R950 in fuel, with a diesel estate closer to R780 and a big petrol seven-seater nearer R1 350.
Port Alfred and Kenton both have proper breakfast stops near the water, and Bathurst has the pineapple and a pub that has been there longer than most of the cars on the lawn. Factor R220 to R320 a head for a sit-down meal, and remember that lawn event catering runs out early.
What to pack for a lawn day
A folding chair, a hat with a brim, sunblock, two litres of water and a jersey for the wind that comes up at eleven. Lawn events offer very little shade by design, since shade means trees and trees mean leaves on paint. We have watched more visitors defeated by sun than by distance.
Take cash. Club gates, raffle tables and the boerewors roll queue are often cash only, and the signal at some of the rural venues is thin enough that a card machine becomes decorative. R300 in notes covers a day comfortably.
Coming home tired, which is the real test
The return leg into a late afternoon sun is where a car earns its keep. You want a seat that still supports the small of your back at hour three, an aircon that holds a steady temperature rather than cycling, cruise control for the long straight stretches, and headlights good enough for the unlit section past Alexandria, where livestock on the road is a genuine risk after dark.
If you can, leave the lawn by three. The run back in daylight is pleasant, the same run after sunset is a job of work, and nothing about a trophy you did not win is worth driving the Fish River bends in the dark.
Three things to take away
- Allow three to three and a half hours each way, not the arithmetic answer.
- Side wind punishes tall, light cars; test that before buying, not after.
- Indicative fuel for the round trip: about R780 diesel, R950 petrol, R1 350 for a big one.