Vis Arend
Bachelor Dog
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2010
- Messages
- 11,794
- Reaction score
- 1,999
- Location
- King William's Town
- Bike
- Honda CRF-250 Rally
5 PROVINCES IN 5 DAYS
We had a planned three week holiday, but unfortunately things do not always go the way you want. Our three week trip was cut down to a week.
All of a sudden we had to cramp up a three week trip into a few days. Our original plans were to go to Nelspruit, Sabie and Hoedspruit and as far up as Messina / Beitbridge coming down to Bella-Bella / Leeupoort, Kimberley, Gariep Dam and then back home. We wanted to explore the areas and visit as many as possible attractions, but our plans crashed and needed to be altered.
We then considered routes closer to home, and looked at the “Sharing your Routes Thread”. One particular route shared by Tommie Transalp got me interested as it included the Mullers, Normandien and Colling’s passes. We started to plan our new route around the Midlands Meander and then saw that we had two days to our credit.
This is when we decided to incorporate some of our original planning into the new route. We still wanted to explore the Nelspruit, Sabie and Hoedspruit surroundings as we heard it was beautiful up there. We planned and planned and eventually came up with the following trip.
Day 1 Kokstad to Badplaas.
Day 2 Badplaas to Witrivier via Longtom Pass.
Day 3 Witrivier to Hoedspruit via Blyde River Canyon.
Day 4 Hoedspruit to Wakkerstroom.
Day 5 Wakkerstroom to Mooirivier via Normandien Pass.
Day 6 Mooirivier to Kokstad
We could not do half the things we wanted to, but hey, we tried, did what we could and had a wonderful trip. I mean, any time spend on two wheels are much better than nothing at all.
So our trip started on Saturday, 18 August 2012. Not by choice, but to save some time, we had to stoetie the Big Blue from King William’s Town to where our daughter stays in Kokstad, this is then also where we slept that night.
Day 1
This day would be the longest route at almost 750km in the saddle. This was necessary to get us as far up north as possible. We considered it as doable as it was the first day and most of the day’s riding was on tar. The route for the day was from Kokstad to Badplaas.
Also see file attachment of the route.
Leaving at first light.
The sun starting to rise.
Two weeks earlier the road to Kokstad and Underberg were closed for a couple of days due to heavy snow.
Evidence of the snow is still visible.
The Big Blue and the Big Cold White.
Knee deep.
Watch out! Snow ball coming your way.
A beautiful bridge.
Lekker padkos.
The Colenso Garden of Remembrance (Dis waar die gesneuwelde Ingelse begrawe is want die Boere en die Ingelse was alweer kwaad vir mekaar.)
Some scenery on route.
Nature called.
We arrived in Badplaas 7 hours and 30 min later, tired but happy to be safe.
We booked in at the Badplaas resort at the rate of R171-00 for camping. We had a lekker braai and a not so good night’s rest. We went to sleep on a well inflated mattress just to be woken in the early hours of the morning with aching bodies. We were lying flat on the ground. The mattress must have got a puncture at the Skaapkop ete at the Spookhuis. (Damn ghost!)
Some photos of the camp.
The rest to follow soon.............
We had a planned three week holiday, but unfortunately things do not always go the way you want. Our three week trip was cut down to a week.
All of a sudden we had to cramp up a three week trip into a few days. Our original plans were to go to Nelspruit, Sabie and Hoedspruit and as far up as Messina / Beitbridge coming down to Bella-Bella / Leeupoort, Kimberley, Gariep Dam and then back home. We wanted to explore the areas and visit as many as possible attractions, but our plans crashed and needed to be altered.
We then considered routes closer to home, and looked at the “Sharing your Routes Thread”. One particular route shared by Tommie Transalp got me interested as it included the Mullers, Normandien and Colling’s passes. We started to plan our new route around the Midlands Meander and then saw that we had two days to our credit.
This is when we decided to incorporate some of our original planning into the new route. We still wanted to explore the Nelspruit, Sabie and Hoedspruit surroundings as we heard it was beautiful up there. We planned and planned and eventually came up with the following trip.
Day 1 Kokstad to Badplaas.
Day 2 Badplaas to Witrivier via Longtom Pass.
Day 3 Witrivier to Hoedspruit via Blyde River Canyon.
Day 4 Hoedspruit to Wakkerstroom.
Day 5 Wakkerstroom to Mooirivier via Normandien Pass.
Day 6 Mooirivier to Kokstad
We could not do half the things we wanted to, but hey, we tried, did what we could and had a wonderful trip. I mean, any time spend on two wheels are much better than nothing at all.
So our trip started on Saturday, 18 August 2012. Not by choice, but to save some time, we had to stoetie the Big Blue from King William’s Town to where our daughter stays in Kokstad, this is then also where we slept that night.
Day 1
This day would be the longest route at almost 750km in the saddle. This was necessary to get us as far up north as possible. We considered it as doable as it was the first day and most of the day’s riding was on tar. The route for the day was from Kokstad to Badplaas.
Also see file attachment of the route.
Leaving at first light.
The sun starting to rise.
Two weeks earlier the road to Kokstad and Underberg were closed for a couple of days due to heavy snow.
Evidence of the snow is still visible.
The Big Blue and the Big Cold White.
Knee deep.
Watch out! Snow ball coming your way.
A beautiful bridge.
Lekker padkos.
The Colenso Garden of Remembrance (Dis waar die gesneuwelde Ingelse begrawe is want die Boere en die Ingelse was alweer kwaad vir mekaar.)
Some scenery on route.
Nature called.
We arrived in Badplaas 7 hours and 30 min later, tired but happy to be safe.
We booked in at the Badplaas resort at the rate of R171-00 for camping. We had a lekker braai and a not so good night’s rest. We went to sleep on a well inflated mattress just to be woken in the early hours of the morning with aching bodies. We were lying flat on the ground. The mattress must have got a puncture at the Skaapkop ete at the Spookhuis. (Damn ghost!)
Some photos of the camp.
The rest to follow soon.............
