In order to achieve this long cherished ideal of finishing the book, she worked tirelessly over weekends.
Marion, who was recently promoted to assistant editor of Getaway magazine, is an accomplished photographer and keenly interested in history.
She took many of the photographs in the book which extensively covers the passes.
There are handy tips on best driving routes for the Cederberg passes and the Bain’s Kloof, Tradouw, Garcia and Gysmanshoek passes, what to look out for, hiking trails, mountain-biking tracks and 4x4 routes. Some follow ancient migration routes or are engineering masterpieces, but all are spectacular.
During the time she lived in George, Marion was a freelance writer and ran her own guesthouse, Angels Lodge, in Blanco. She became one of the founding members of the Outeniqua Country Hop, a tourism route that meanders through the countryside around George and into the mountains.
Her research skills were honed when she worked as a researcher at the George Museum on the exhibition on the historic Garden Route passes.
It was quite a thrill for her when the book launch, held in Cape Town, was attended by an old gent - a direct descendant of Thomas Bain, the old pass builder, and her Getaway colleagues.
Author Marion Whitehead and Katot Meyer, the adventurer from Oudtshoorn, with his Landy after they drove the old Duiwelskop Pass on Louvain Farm.
Author Marion Whitehead and Katot Meyer, the adventurer from Oudtshoorn, with his Landy after they drove the old Duiwelskop Pass on Louvain Farm.
ARTICLE: PAULINE LOURENS
