3 days, 2 provinces, 1325km & 1 W650

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the_wes

Grey Hound
Joined
Jan 10, 2007
Messages
8,751
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0
Location
Brackenfell, Cape Town
Bike
Harley Davidson (all models)
It's been a long year. I was feeling tired, stressed, burnt out. The solution - some much needed R & R, but every time I thought I'd be spending a weekend away something came up. Eventually I made up my mind - come hell or high water, 18th of December I was out of here. As a bonus, my very good friend Antonie (who I've known for many years) was in town (he works in Dubai) and was keen to join me on his newly acquired and sweetly kitted HP2. One final delay saw us leaving on the 19th, but the important thing is we were off and ready for adventure.

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We headed off in the direction of Wellington, then it was over Bains Kloof and onto Ceres. The plan was to get to Citrusdal, and then go from there north, into the Cederberg and onto Cederberg Oasis for the night. Antonie's brother Rall joined us for half of the first day on his monstrous B-King. That thing truly is a beast - I was cruising at 140 at one stage and he came past me like I was looking for parking. Rall suggested stopping at Die Tolhuis on Mitchell's Pass for a bite - great suggestion. Their roosterkoek is amazing and the cherry crumble didn't put up much of a fight.

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Brothers - Antonie (left) and Rall (right)

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After lunch Rall headed home and Antonie and I pressed on to Ceres, and over Gydo Pass.

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The HP2 is one helluva bike. I am suffering from serious coveting issues after this trip.

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My original plan was to get to Citrusdal via Gouda and Porterville - the long, boring way. What I didn't realise was that if you continued north via Op Die Berg, you would arrive in Citrusdal. Rall pointed this out to me on Google Maps on his Galaxy Note before he headed home, and I changed my route. I'm glad I did, because the bit between Op Die Berg and Citrusdal has some very nice and very scenic bits.

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We topped up again in Citrusdal - where I decided to fill up my jerry can for good measure. Turned out I didn't need it once this whole trip. Since I've never entered the Cederberg from Citrusdal's side before, their town map came in rather handy. If it's one thing I learned on this trip, it's that asking for directions pays off (except in Sutherland, no-one really seemed sure of themselves in Sutherland when it came to directions).

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Shortly after Citrusdal another shady stop off was in order. Antonie and I have very much the same approach to adventure riding - stop often, take it easy, never be in a rush, take it as it comes. It paid off - we had a great day's riding...

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...and before we knew it, we were finally in the Cederberg.

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