Photograph: The old style bridge at Swartkops

A different PE to the beachfront of Humewood lay ahead of me and to the left: the huge factories of the industrial heartland of the Eastern Cape.

A footpath parallel to the freeway indicated that this stretch must be used frequently by pedestrians, though I didn’t see any. Under-tyre the ground was sandy compared with the red stones and rock of the Magaliesberg during the Stage One section of my ride.

I felt the presence of PE’s industries in my lungs. It got worse when I eventually left the freeway and passed a sewage farm. When I stopped at a T-junction a swarm of flies hit me in the face.

Heading north, I ended up in Swartkops. It would have been a lovely, sleepy little lagoon-side village were it not for its proximity to all the industry.

I fantasized about drinking a Coke, not to quench my thirst but to get the taste of the factory air out of my mouth.

I wandered down to the lagoon, which was lined with neat little humble homes, one painted purple and with a garden filled with concrete gnomes. Across the road, at the end of a small jetty, a man and woman sat fishing.

I saw a large fish jump.

COMMENT: What do you think is the best thing to drink to get a foul taste out of your mouth?

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Back in the main street of Swartkops I asked a cop to confirm that I was indeed on the way to Addo. His name tag and rank, printed on his uniform, identified him as Inspector Botha.

He was a helpful and friendly man who also encouraged me that Addo was less than 80 kilometres away.

“The easterly wind will help you,” he said.

“And make sure you have enough water.”

An old-fashioned steel bridge that allowed traffic to pass through its tunnel-like shape in one direction at a time took me over the Swartkops River.

PE’s industrial stench became worse and worse as I climbed a hill. Things got worse on top of the rise where the roadside was the most non-aesthetic and distasteful mix of garbage, fynbos and cattle wandering through the muck.

COMMENT: Are South African police often friendly like this one was?