Mpumalanga - There are few things that come close to the freedom of a road trip. Not worrying about work, the kids or even your spouse for a few days.
And I suppose I'm lucky in a sense that I could obtain one of the most sought after cars in the country and spend three full days of driving.
As a combination of machine and scenery, my road trip was pretty much perfect. I was nestled behind the steering wheel of the latest Ford Mustang, in 5.0-litre GT guise, and took on the winding roads of Mpumalanga.
Here are 10 photographs that defined my amazing experience:
Ford's Mustang was launched in late 2015, after almost 12 months I'd have a chance to really get under the skin of this American muscle car.
I headed out to Graskop in Mpumalanga where I was spending the night, one of the highlights of Day 1 was driving on the R532 road that meandered its way to Sabie.
On Day 2 I drove to God's Window which is a must when visiting this area, situated on the Drakensberg Escarpment it offers unrivalled views of the Lowveld, including 900m drops into all-types of greens.
The beautiful arts and crafts on display by artists and store owners in the God's Window parking area.
After savouring the beautiful scenery of God's Window I ventured back onto the R534 towards Bourkes Luck Potholes.
The standard seat coolers and heaters came in handy during my trip, I used the former most of the time though as temperatures peaked in the high 20s.
I was fortunate to have large parts of the Panorama Route and specifically the Long Tom Pass to myself. It was probably one of the best driving experiences I've had yet.
I spent the night in Barberton and put the 'Stang to 'bed' knowing she had one helluva exciting day of traversing some of the country's best roads.
I spotted a searing Orange Focus ST outside the local Wimpy in Barberton before I hit the open road once more.
Before heading back to Johannesburg, I received a tip off from another motoring hack about a road just outside Machadodorp or by its official name eNtokozweni.
It turned out to be 36km of motoring section that took me down to Nkomati mine.
Conclusion: The 1200km drive that I did in the Mustang on these roads alone was a once in a lifetime opportunity and one that I'll never forget. I hope these photographs give you an insight into what it was like.
There's more to come from this trip, so keep reading Wheels24.