My annual leave. The hell , Baviaans and some more.

[Vaalseun]

Lekker trip Hando en puik fotos. Dankie dat jy met ons gedeel het.

[Sidpitt]

Great RR Hando, Thanks man!
Have made some notes about your trip that I'd like to se / do on mine.
 

[Dorsland]

Lekker Hando,  jy het waaragtig 'n paar bitter mooi plekke gery jong.  Jy ry ook lekker rustig en geniet die węreld, dis ook lekker. 

[frans1]

Lekker man. Dit is wat ek nou noem lekker rustig toer.

Thanks dat jy met ons jou lekker RR en photos gedeel het.

[DikZol]

Ek het heerlik gelees dankie!  Ek wens ek het die confidence en competency gehad om meganiese probleme te kan uitsorteer op die pad.  Dis my grootste worry op trips, veral as ek alleen ry.

Ek dink dis tyd dat ek my vrou die Baviaans gaan wys!

1150 GS .... Gee die goed dan meganiese probleme ? Het nog nie opgelet dat daar so n thread was oor 1150GS wat gaan staan het erens nie. Seker daar moet seker erens so iets wees. Gaan ry eers  adventure trips bietjie solo en kry confidence in jou bike .

 

Confidence is good, overconfidence is dangerous...

[4 Kays]

So enjoyed your RR Hando, lekker skryf styl en foto's pragtig. 

That's the way to do it, no rush and enjoy the ride.

[Rotax650]

Dankie vir goeie verslag, en foto's van jou trip. Volpunte :thumleft
Waar het die N draad geskaaf? Kan ons soortgelyke pyne spaar.

[Casino]

The internet has recently celebrated its 24 year of existence. With the coming of the internet has come a lot of evils , but also a lot of good. Amongst other things the internet has made the world a lot smaller.  So it is that through the internet I have come to meet some wonderful people. And the internet has shown me places such as the Hell and Baviaanskloof. But seeing it on a PC screen is not same as being there yourself and experiencing a place on your own. And so with my annual leave due I started to make plans to go and see some of those places for myself.

DAY 1

I start my day by packing Jemima and making sure that everying is tied down nicely and ready for the trip. Actually, I did the packing the previous night and all I need do is strap everything down and get into my bike gear.

My first stop is at the fuel station where I spend a few minutes checking and adjusting my tire pressures.



Because I ride the area around Cape Town a lot I do not stop for pics but I do decide to stop for a pic when I cross the Berg river near Francshoek.



A quick stop at the top of the pass to look at the scenery





And I am off again.

I make a point of relaxing and taking it easy. And I force myself to get into the holiday mode by stopping a lot to take pictures.



I go through Villiersdorp and just after the pass I turn right onto a gravel road that points in the general direction I want to go.

Now if you are on a Dualsport bike , then signs like this are what you want to see :



And roads like these are what we ride for :







I pass the Breede bash site and cross the river just after the site. The next road to the right takes me along the river valley and towards Robertson.

You have to wonder what frightens someone to run out of his shoes like this :



The road follows the river for a distance.



I go through Robertson and Ashton.

In Ashton I stop at the train for a pic and grab something to eat.



The idea was to go through Montagu and then follow a dirt road past Rietkraal se rivier towards Koedoeskloof , but talking to the local at the restaurant he tells me that the road is closed because it goes through a nature reserve. Not having been that way before I have to believe him and so I stay on the tar road hoping to turn left onto the dirt at a later stage.

Close to the Op de Tradouw pass I turn left onto a dirt road that looks promising. But about 7kms down the road I am met by a gate proclaiming that in front of me lies Sanbona Nature reserve.

The toothless security guard at the gate was very unhelpful and just flatly denied me thoroughfare. I suspect that my spinning rear wheel roosting him and his office might have given him an indication of what I felt like when I had to turn around.

I stopped down the Sanbona road to grab a pic of two of the locals.



Back onto the R62 I continued towards Barrydale stopping for some pics along the way.





I have done the Tradouw pass in a car before but never on a bike and so I decided to go down and back up the pass.







I turned around





and stopped to just soak in the view and the sounds.

I was amazed at how much of the Fynbos I could smell. What really tickled me though was that I could really smell the fynbos every time after I put helmet on. It was somewhere on day two that I realized the I was not smelling the fynbos , but that my helmet inners needed a serious meeting with some soap and water.



Then it was past Barrydale and on towards Ladismith and Koedoeskloof.



I went past a VW Jetta lying on the embankment and looking a bit battered so I turned around to investigate how and why someone would park their vehicle like that.

The evidence was fairly straight forward.





and the damage quite spectacular.



I do suspect that some locals came and helped themselves to some of spares available while the car was lying there.

I turned left past Buffelsdrift,  dealt with a local traffic jam



admired the view



and stopped at Velbrandt and Debi at Koedoeskloof where I pitched my tent and chilled.



A warm shower and an awesome Koedoe burger later and I was sleeping like a baby.





 

Hando baie lekker gelees en pics gekyk! baie goeie RR en lyk baie lekker ! welgedaan

[OomD]

Wow, een van die lekkerste RR's wat ek nog gelees het. So rustig, geen gejaag om iewers te kom nie, alles op sy tyd. Ry en geniet. Wel, jy't gery en ek het geniet

Wel gedaan, awesome RR.

[Sardine]

I'm feeling inspired! 

Great RR! 

[TVB]

Lekker Hando! Sal jy asb vir my prober verduidelik waar kry mens 'kom se pad'? Ek het laaskeer van George af uitgery direk op die Montague pas (wat na reg van die hoofpad uitdraai as jy nou sou uitgaan na Uniondale rigting) Ek wou vir Trailrider opspoor laaskeer maar hy was uit na Mosselbaai en ek moes toe maar self 'pad soek'. Wil graag die 'kom se pad' ry

[Hanno @ Mad Macs]

Kom se pad loop uit Knysna uit.

As jy wes ry uit Knysna uit met die meer aan jou linkerkant dan kry jy op n stadium n Robot waar jy kan regs draai na so n fancy golf estate toe. Volg daai pad tot verby die golf estate waar hy grondpad word. Draai daar links. Die Bordjie wys - Gouna.

Daai pad is Kom se pad en vat jou op die ou end na De Vlugt toe.

[heti]

Lekker!!!!  Nice kiekies en report!!! 

Net een ding:  Daai bokkie is 'n Klipspringer, nie 'n Steenbokkie nie. 

[TVB]

Kom se pad loop uit Knysna uit.

As jy wes ry uit Knysna uit met die meer aan jou linkerkant dan kry jy op n stadium n Robot waar jy kan regs draai na so n fancy golf estate toe. Volg daai pad tot verby die golf estate waar hy grondpad word. Draai daar links. Die Bordjie wys - Gouna.

Daai pad is Kom se pad en vat jou op die ou end na De Vlugt toe.

Baie dankie, ek het hom nou!

[WP]

Baie nice RR Hanno. En ek stem saam jou met die bacon en eiers...

[Lem]

Kom se pad loop uit Knysna uit.

As jy wes ry uit Knysna uit met die meer aan jou linkerkant dan kry jy op n stadium n Robot waar jy kan regs draai na so n fancy golf estate toe. Volg daai pad tot verby die golf estate waar hy grondpad word. Draai daar links. Die Bordjie wys - Gouna.

Daai pad is Kom se pad en vat jou op die ou end na De Vlugt toe.

Baie dankie, ek het hom nou!

Klink soos daar langs Simola verby, ek moet dit gaan uitcheck 

[Hanno @ Mad Macs]

Jy is doodreg - Dit is langs Simola verby. Kon nie nie die bleddie naam onthou nie.

[Kameel]

  ek parkeer hom om later te lees...

[COLES]

this one of the best RR i have seen the photo,s speak volumes very well done

[Hanno @ Mad Macs]

this one of the best RR i have seen the photo,s speak volumes very well done

Thank you kind sir.
Very big compliment.