Waterberg in the rain and mud (again!) 4-6 April 2014

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Armpie

Pack Dog
Joined
Apr 30, 2013
Messages
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Location
Pretoria
Bike
Kawasaki KLR 650
So me and my son, the Mountain Man from the Eastern Cape, decides to make some adventure.  And also to avoid e-tolls.  Not that we are paying it.  We said we will leave Pretoria on Friday and then we goes through Warmbad, through Nylstroom, then we turn left into the Waterberg.  Then after 80km we will sleep at my brother’s weekend farm near Sterkrivier.  Ons Saturday we will go north to Gansekraal, near Overyssel, near marken, far from everything.  My uncle farmed there for plenty of years.  One Sunday we comes back.  That plan could prove some adventure. And stuff tolls in general.  And this follows on my last visit, a month ago.  Also in the rain and mud!

https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=146975.0

So we climbed onto our KLR’s.  Me on the Blue Thunder (special pipe) and he on my Old Red Mare. When we leave there are some clouds, but when we near Warmbad I can see it rains.  So wragtig, last time, I was there on a Friday, on Nelson Mandela Street- all little towns main street is now called so, the caravans came first then the bakkies.  The dam burst. From here it rained on the tar till past Nylstroom. 7km past Nylstroom we takes the left turn, Grootfontein.  The road is dirty and dry and in beautiful environment.  Later we go up a hill.






On a high mountain, I and MM takes a Rockies and softdrink to say we are happy.  A bakkie stops and a professional hunter, FC Prinsloo stops.  He knows all about KLR’s.  So 20 minutes later he leaves.  We make a new friend.  But while we are talking it starts to rain.  The dirty road is now muddy but stable.  We takes it slow.




Everything is fine.  After 10km MM (Mountain Man) wents down the first time.  Just a little welcome slide.  When the vehicles from the front waited for us to pass, I knew we might need some sympathy in future.  But we continue until we get a wet tar road at Warmbronne.  Then we take the road to Marken.  After 6km we take a dirt road.  Sterkfontein.


This photo was taken on the way back. When it stopped raining.  But when you see this board on a rainy day- Take somebody strong with you- to help get the bikes upright again!



The rain was still bucketing down. We could turn around and take the tar road.  But Charlie Boorman & Ewan McGregor, did they take the tar because it rained?  No! Do Henry Cole ever turn around because it rain? No.  We could have well done the Pelindaba highway and be back for 7th Avenue on TV if we turns around.  

So after 500m, MM of the muddy sand road MM went down.  I turned around and my front wheel also goes horizontal.  We pick up the bikes in the mud and continue.  Then I hits the mud, and MM hits the mud.  In the mud it is not easy to pick up bikes, so we had to help each other.  Again I leave my bike on it’s side.  Not using the sidestand.  I walked back to help.  Then MM dives again.  I see he is fine and take a snap.  But my footprint is in the sand and everybody thinks we stages the photo. But we did not.




4 Times in 13km I took a tumble and so did MM.
Then we at last get the dirt road to Sterkrivier.  Still the rain was thrown from heaven with buckets. Then we gets to a hill, I later learned from the locals known as “Snotbult”.




It is about 400 meters long.  But it is clay.  I lost control and to the left is a big rock, luckily I missed the rock but still came down.  When I looked back MM was already down 100m behind me.  To pick up the bike was useless.  The mud clogged to my boots as I walked down to help the Red Mare back on her hooves.  But riding her out was impossible.  So we walked the 200m next to the bike.  Slippery and dangerous.  Then we walked back to get the Blue Thunder out of the mud and up the hill.  It took us 20 minutes. I later realized that even tractors lose traction in that clayground.

We went the last 15km through the sandy mud without incident.

When we get to the farm, I was attacked by three young trees.  My and the Blue Thunder’s  last time for the day in the dirt.    My touring screen was immediately modified into a shorter than usual sport version.  I also broke the fender.  15 meter from the house!  But we were safe and wet, and it was already dark. Nearly four hours on 80km.  During the night the bucketing continued.


So on the Saturday morning we sit and drink our coffee. It rained until 03:00.  At 09:30 the sun decided to make a tiny break and we decided to try our route to  Gansekraal.  At Kranskloof we took a photo of the Sterkrivier Valley.

 


Then on top of the plateau it is sand.  And wet.  Agge nee! The same story as last night.  MM took another dive his first for the day.  

His brand new Shark helmet broke both the clips of the visor on the side.  So we used isolation tape to keep the visor in place.
Then we get to the Witwater turn off, it was very wet and the road washed away.  At a dam the water took the complete game fence down.  We crossed.  

Then we go towards Melkrivier School and then the plan is to go past Lapala Wilderness.  The Melkrivier is running over the driffie, and we after some walking we did the crossing without so much as a hassle. Knee deep.


We reached the gate at Lapalala, but there was no more going past.  The complete road was closed.  


The owner closed the road with gates.  So eventually we turned around.  And we crossed the Melkrivier again.


We continue up to Kwarriehoek.

But at the Palalariver the new owners also closed the road with a gate!  

So we went back up a slippery hill.  


Our plan to get to Gansekraal was not going to happen.  So we took the Potgietersrus-Marken tar road for 30km back to Sterkrivier turn off.  Along the road we stopped in the beautiful pass.  The ANC built it, the Boere named it.  De la Rey Pass.  



We turned back on the dirty road for the last 30km back to farm.
Here we decided to rather visit Danie se Winkel.  Here a young man on his bicycle, Jan,took a photo of us and we of him.  



We returned to the farm.  It was now only MM and I.  Everyone else went back home.  So we sit there in the rain and drink Rockies and Cola and make each other happy by singing together hits songs of Oom Chris Blignaut.  Like “When its night time in the Bushveld” and “Old Riding Horse”.

The next morning we went back the same way we came on Friday.  Snotbult was now dry, but the Sterkfontein road was still wet.  First I took a dive in the wet sand, then MM took a dive.  I turned around to go help and in the mud my KLR went down for the last time.

This time I broke the left mirror.  The rest of the way went fine.  Until we get to Warmbad.  And it was raining again!  So we stopped at a roadside inn, drank a long cold one, until water has stopped and went home.


A weekend of fun and adventure.  If Charlie, Ewan and Henry could just know.  And the anties from 7th Avenue, would not have one single clean bloomer left.  
 
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