Sam
Race Dog
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2007
- Messages
- 790
- Reaction score
- 2
- Bike
- AJS (all models)
Southern Namibia â?? 09 â?? 20 August 2007
I'd like to say that we've just returned from a trip to Namibia, but��.it has been six months! The trip was a great adventure for us, and for those that haven't been to Namibia, the scenery is well worth sharing.
Anyway, I though Iâ??d try my hand at putting story behind the picture this time, and try my hand at writing up a travel / ride report. Numbers being my usual gameâ?¦ there is a good chance that this might end up being the greatest sleeping aid known to mankind, or then again, it might notâ?¦â?¦.
The backroundâ?¦..
Allan and I have been mates for about 25 years - this definitely makes travelling together a little easier - no surprises along the way, and no obligation for conversation â?? in fact, I think that there were a good couple of days where communication was limited to a couple of monosyllabilic grunts . Ironically enough, in 1989 & 90, we both spent time in Namibia, both in Walvis Bay, at the behest of our then government. The subject of undertaking a road trip through the country has risen on many occasions over the intervening years, starting with XT500â??s (câ??mon, lets buy a couple and just head upâ?¦), moving on to 4x4â??s, and then back to bikes. The bikes won!
So, a year ago, after not riding bikes for about 5 years (well, Allan rode a "Top Boy" scooter for a while, but that canâ??t countâ?¦..can it?), we both ended up buying at the drop of a hat.
The bikes were the easy part��..now we just had to commit to taking time off work�. and almost a year later...we finally got around to doing it. Namibia is, after Mongolia, the most sparsely populated country in the world so, other than the adventure of a motorcycle trip, it was a great destination if one just wants to get away from it all!
Preparation.
Both bikes are (wereâ?¦) relatively new, so no work required on mechanics. My AT had blown itâ??s voltage regulator, which required a re-build, and at the same time, I decided that heated grips would be a luxurious addition to the ride and with my offroading skills, crashbars probably a necessity! Engine and fork oil change, and that was itâ?¦.
Al kitted up the Beemer with bigger footpegs, handlebar raisers (6ft + doesn't exactly fall into the "average" category that the engineers taking into consideration when designing the asthetics of the F650), and ditched the heavy catalytic converter and fake double tailpipe for a single "Scorched" tail-can. It was an interesting project to quieten the noise of the frequent 650cc explosions that are integral with the forward motion of the bike!
Packing.
I had soft panniers and a top-bag for the trip. My only concern at the time was that they wouldnâ??t be big enough to fit all the kit for a two week trip. My concern was slightly misplacedâ?¦..it wasn't the bags that ran out of space, but rather the bike!
Knowing that I had an office party the night before we were leaving, I decided to be proactive, and pack everything two nights before. The plan was to be able to wake up with the inevitable hangover, and only have to summon up enough mental agility to attach the packed panniers to the bike. Ha.
Due to meet at Alâ??s house in town at 9.00, I woke up at 6.00 to start attaching said gear. Bleary eyed, wishing one could take coffee intravenously, I stumbled downstairs to the garage. The attaching of the panniers went off remarkably incident free, albeit a little slow (difficult to work with one hand, the other occupied with the life saving task of supporting the mug of caffeineâ?¦). All that was left was to attach the tent, sleeping bag and camping chair. Easy enoughâ?¦â?¦. however, once everything was on, I noticed a glaring oversightâ?¦â?¦ no space left for the pilot! No matter how much I tried to move everything back, I still ended up sitting on the tank, looking forward to a very uncomfortable 4,500 km.
Soâ?¦â?¦ ditch the tailbag, chuck everything into a huge kitbag, strap everything on with a copious quantity of bungi cords, tie-down straps, etc, etcâ?¦â?¦ and finally had enough space for me. The entire exercise was completed in completely good humourâ?¦â?¦6.00 am, hangover, things wonâ??t work, running lateâ?¦. you decide.
The older F650's weren't fitted with carriers, which makes attaching panniers and the like a little bit of a pain. Allan, owning a specialist metalwork manufacturer, constructed a bespoke carrier, which he attached to the side-panel mounting points. He didn't fill me in on the finer points of his packing, but knowing how organised he is, I have a strong suspicion that his packing efforts were well rewarded!
Day 1. Cape Town - Orange River. 478km - 9 hours
And so it starts.
I live in Sea Pointâ?¦â?¦at the top of a very steep hill. Lets just say, doing a u-turn with the AT weighing in at about 340kg (bike 230, gear about 25, me the restâ?¦.) was entertaining to say the very least. Headed through to Alâ??s house, braving the early morning CT driving (which, believe it or not, is actually markedly worse than later in the dayâ?¦.bad). Was almost run over by a lass who somehow just didnâ??t notice meâ?¦..on a dead straight roadâ?¦.with no other traffic around. Bless her â?? it was Womens Day after all, so my reaction was remarkably restrained
I was quite interested (read nervous�) to see how my suspension set-up would work after my fine adjustments to the rear pre-load. Anyone who rides an AT would know that this exercise is undertaken using the finest of precision tools��.a hammer and punch. Amazingly enough, the handling was fine, although I did have to slacken the chain, which was bar-taut after packing on all of the gear.
Arrived at Alâ??s house bang on time, which is a really rare occurrence for me. He was suitable impressed â?? we donâ??t call him "The Organiser" for nothing.
The good news was that heâ??d also been out on a wee bender the night before, and didnâ??t appear to be in much better condition than I. He was, however, packed and ready to go at 9.00amâ?¦..
Fortune was smiling on us â?? the sun was out after about a week solid of rain, and the temperature was not too bad either. A good startâ?¦
CT â?? Piketberg. 145km
We headed out of CT on the N1, with reasonably light "long weekend" public holiday morning traffic, turning onto the N7 just outside of CT. Heading out through the farmlands around Malmesbury, and on to Piketburg, one was struck with how green the lands were. Weâ??ve had a LOT of rain down here this year.
There are quite a few sections of the N7 that are a little nerve wracking to drive, with the section from Melkbos to Malmesbury being one of them. Very narrow, single carriageway, and a lot of "50/50" overtaking . Not fun taking on into the rising sunâ?¦.
We arrived in Piketberg just after 10.00, and after filling the bikes, decided to grab a fry-up for breakfast. Winkelshok was quite busy, with numerous 4 x 4â??s getting ready to head off into the hills. We had a quiet chuckle at the chap in the shiny new Audi Q7, wondering if he knew what the roads were like heading into the Cederberg!
Piketberg â?? Vanryhnsdorp. 205km
After a leisurely break (you wouldnâ??t have thought that we still had about 600km to go for the day), we hit the road again. First heart stopping moment of the trip â?? weâ??d been back on the N7 for about 10 minutes when I noticed Al roaring up behind me (wellâ?¦.as much as a Dakar can ever "roar"â?¦) gesticulating and flashing lights. Strangely enough, the first thought that entered my mind was that the bike was on fire (??), and so proceeded to execute an emergency stop (wellâ?¦. as close as an AT can ever get to an emergency stopâ?¦). It turned out that excess strap from one of my hastily tied tie-downs had come loose, and was about 2 cm away from getting caught up in the rear sprocket. 130km and hour to dead stop would not have worked out well (those straps have about a 1 ton breaking strain.). Lesson learnt â?? I double-checked those things at every stop for the rest of the trip.
The view down into the Swartland from the Pikenierskloof Pass was stunning. Crystal clear air, blue skies, and emerald green farmlands for as far as the eye could see. (unfortunately no photies). The pass down into Citrusdal is always a joy to ride â?? nice twisties, and too bumpy to go fast enough to scare yourself. I was, however, still getting the feel of the bike with the extra load, so the stretch did require a little more concentration than usual.
The road from Citrusdal to Clanwilliam is also extremely narrow, with no run-off shoulder whatsoever. Every time a 18 wheeler comes toward you, you wonder if there is enough space to pass�. and then you get hit by the "bow wave" of air being pushed by the truck. Entertaining��
The Clanwilliam dam was the fullest Iâ??d ever seen. When we arrived at the wall, there were a good many people that had stopped to see the water gushing from the sluice gates. The water level is not too far below the top of the wall. Apparently 110% full!
From the dam, we headed on to Vanryhnsdorp. Up to this point, you are still riding through the foothills of the Cedeberg, with the land starting to flatten out into the Karoo the closer you get to V-Dorp.
About 10km outside of the town, the police had set up a road-block, checking licences, and one would hope, un-roadworthy vehicles. These things are always quite a pain to come across when youâ??re wearing full kit. The cop stops me, and holds out his hand for my license, obviously not realising that this is about a five minute operation involving removing gloves, trying to find in which velcroed and zipped shut small pocket, out of five, you have your license, while trying to prevent your bike rolling down the hill on which they have stopped you. (in short, kind of like stopping at a toll-gateâ?¦!) The irony of it all was that they didnâ??t even ask us to take off helmets or goggles (reflective iridium lensesâ?¦.). Clearly being able to produce a license was more important than actually being the rightful bearer of the licenseâ?¦..go figure. Ah well, I suppose itâ??s better than them not being there at all.
Anyway, on to the buzzing metropolis of Vanryhsdorp. A quick stop to fill up, rest the buttsâ?¦.and check if the gear was still strapped on.
Vanrhynsdorp â?? Springbok. 254km
The road to Springbok from here is quite deceptive. While appearing pretty flat, itâ??s actually uphill all the way through. By this stage, a spiteful cross wind had picked up, coming in from about an 11 oâ??clock angle. The arrival of the next cold front in the Cape!
Over the years, Iâ??ve travelled this road up to the border about 15 times. Iâ??ve never seen as much greenery as now. We had heard that the Namaqualand flowers season was gearing up to be spectacular, but didnâ??t see that many fields of flowers. Only on our return trip did we realise that we had been travelling into the sun, and as the flowers track the sun, they were facing away from us.
However, the bugs must have been having a field day with the flowers â?? I had to stop to clear my goggles after about 100kmâ?¦â?¦..bug juice aplenty!
This turned out to be a looonnggg stretch. Before setting out in the morning we had agreed to hold cruising speed at about 130km/h. There were various reasons behind the decisionâ?¦â?¦.the AT chews up itâ??s tires at high speed, drinks petrol like a thirsty camel, and doesnâ??t offer the greatest wind protection for those over 6ft tall. The Dakar, being a single, works pretty hard at anything over 130, and also seems to enjoy destroying tires.
The headwind and uphill gradient took its toll, and the fuel consumption for this stretch was terrible. I switched over to reserve about 90km earlier than usual, and Allan only got about 200 km's, as opposed to it's usual 270'odd! He said he was also pretty surprised with the throttle hitting the stop at 120km/hâ?¦.
We pulled into Springbok at about 4pm. Being a public holiday, the pavements had been rolled up, and the town was pretty much shut. (or maybe itâ??s always like thatâ?¦.). I hadnâ??t been able to get hold of the guy at the Orange River campsite at which we were going to overnight, so wasnâ??t sure whether there would be food or booze available. No luck on the booze at Springbok (weâ??d have to rely on the 4 litres of emergency whisky rations that we carried with us), but Al did manage to track down some chops marketed under the label "lamb", but of which the real origins were not apparent.
Springbok â?? Noordoewer (Orange River) 100km
After the previous stretch, this one was a breeze, heading steadily downhill toward the river. The wind had dropped quite a bit too! The last 20km before the river are pretty spectacular. The road winds down through a really barren rocky mountain pass, Vyfmylpoort (or something to that effect). The rocks are a burnt orange colour, and radiate a good amount of heat.
Around the last corner, and there was the Orange River!
We were camping on the South African side, at a campsite at which we had previously spent a few uproarious New Years Eve parties, Oewerbos. We headed onto our first stretch of dirt road��.the real trip had really begun!
The campsite is about 30km along the dirt road which, although a little rocky and potholed, was pretty firm under wheel. We had almost reached the turn-off, when we passed the local general dealer type storeâ?¦..which was open! Excellent â?? cold beer! We had to be pretty inventive when trying to find some space on the bikes to carry the stuff. We bought some of their homemade boerewors as well â?? the woman behind the counter guaranteed that weâ??d be back for more. She wasnâ??t far wrong â?? they really know how to make the stuff up there!
About 2km further down the road (the last 100m was really badly corrugatedâ?¦.or so we thought. We had no idea that this section would be like a bowling green compared to some of the stuff in store for us over the next few days!), we turned off into the farm fields, and down to Oewerbos. The campsite is really well maintained, with lovely green lawns, accompanied by trees for shade. Finally made it, just in time for the great sunset over the river, after 9 hours on the road.
Bikes were quickly unpacked, and tents set up. I hadn't used mine for some time and, as luck would have it, the elastic holding the one of the sets of poles together snapped as I pulled them out of the bag. The only way to set the thing up was to feed one piece though at a time. This little exercise lost its appeal after 10 seconds, and my daily fight with the tent provided Allan with an endless source of entertainment for the rest of the trip. (his minute little tent took about 1 minute to set upâ?¦.)
The evening quickly turned pretty cold, with lots of dew. After a braai and quaffing the frosties (and dipping into the "emergency" whiskey rations), we turned in pretty early, quite knackered after the long day's ride.
My extravagant purchase of a self-inflating mattress was well worth it - these bones are getting too old to sleep on the ground!
I'd like to say that we've just returned from a trip to Namibia, but��.it has been six months! The trip was a great adventure for us, and for those that haven't been to Namibia, the scenery is well worth sharing.
Anyway, I though Iâ??d try my hand at putting story behind the picture this time, and try my hand at writing up a travel / ride report. Numbers being my usual gameâ?¦ there is a good chance that this might end up being the greatest sleeping aid known to mankind, or then again, it might notâ?¦â?¦.
The backroundâ?¦..
Allan and I have been mates for about 25 years - this definitely makes travelling together a little easier - no surprises along the way, and no obligation for conversation â?? in fact, I think that there were a good couple of days where communication was limited to a couple of monosyllabilic grunts . Ironically enough, in 1989 & 90, we both spent time in Namibia, both in Walvis Bay, at the behest of our then government. The subject of undertaking a road trip through the country has risen on many occasions over the intervening years, starting with XT500â??s (câ??mon, lets buy a couple and just head upâ?¦), moving on to 4x4â??s, and then back to bikes. The bikes won!
So, a year ago, after not riding bikes for about 5 years (well, Allan rode a "Top Boy" scooter for a while, but that canâ??t countâ?¦..can it?), we both ended up buying at the drop of a hat.
The bikes were the easy part��..now we just had to commit to taking time off work�. and almost a year later...we finally got around to doing it. Namibia is, after Mongolia, the most sparsely populated country in the world so, other than the adventure of a motorcycle trip, it was a great destination if one just wants to get away from it all!
Preparation.
Both bikes are (wereâ?¦) relatively new, so no work required on mechanics. My AT had blown itâ??s voltage regulator, which required a re-build, and at the same time, I decided that heated grips would be a luxurious addition to the ride and with my offroading skills, crashbars probably a necessity! Engine and fork oil change, and that was itâ?¦.
Al kitted up the Beemer with bigger footpegs, handlebar raisers (6ft + doesn't exactly fall into the "average" category that the engineers taking into consideration when designing the asthetics of the F650), and ditched the heavy catalytic converter and fake double tailpipe for a single "Scorched" tail-can. It was an interesting project to quieten the noise of the frequent 650cc explosions that are integral with the forward motion of the bike!
Packing.
I had soft panniers and a top-bag for the trip. My only concern at the time was that they wouldnâ??t be big enough to fit all the kit for a two week trip. My concern was slightly misplacedâ?¦..it wasn't the bags that ran out of space, but rather the bike!
Knowing that I had an office party the night before we were leaving, I decided to be proactive, and pack everything two nights before. The plan was to be able to wake up with the inevitable hangover, and only have to summon up enough mental agility to attach the packed panniers to the bike. Ha.
Due to meet at Alâ??s house in town at 9.00, I woke up at 6.00 to start attaching said gear. Bleary eyed, wishing one could take coffee intravenously, I stumbled downstairs to the garage. The attaching of the panniers went off remarkably incident free, albeit a little slow (difficult to work with one hand, the other occupied with the life saving task of supporting the mug of caffeineâ?¦). All that was left was to attach the tent, sleeping bag and camping chair. Easy enoughâ?¦â?¦. however, once everything was on, I noticed a glaring oversightâ?¦â?¦ no space left for the pilot! No matter how much I tried to move everything back, I still ended up sitting on the tank, looking forward to a very uncomfortable 4,500 km.
Soâ?¦â?¦ ditch the tailbag, chuck everything into a huge kitbag, strap everything on with a copious quantity of bungi cords, tie-down straps, etc, etcâ?¦â?¦ and finally had enough space for me. The entire exercise was completed in completely good humourâ?¦â?¦6.00 am, hangover, things wonâ??t work, running lateâ?¦. you decide.
The older F650's weren't fitted with carriers, which makes attaching panniers and the like a little bit of a pain. Allan, owning a specialist metalwork manufacturer, constructed a bespoke carrier, which he attached to the side-panel mounting points. He didn't fill me in on the finer points of his packing, but knowing how organised he is, I have a strong suspicion that his packing efforts were well rewarded!
Day 1. Cape Town - Orange River. 478km - 9 hours
And so it starts.
I live in Sea Pointâ?¦â?¦at the top of a very steep hill. Lets just say, doing a u-turn with the AT weighing in at about 340kg (bike 230, gear about 25, me the restâ?¦.) was entertaining to say the very least. Headed through to Alâ??s house, braving the early morning CT driving (which, believe it or not, is actually markedly worse than later in the dayâ?¦.bad). Was almost run over by a lass who somehow just didnâ??t notice meâ?¦..on a dead straight roadâ?¦.with no other traffic around. Bless her â?? it was Womens Day after all, so my reaction was remarkably restrained
I was quite interested (read nervous�) to see how my suspension set-up would work after my fine adjustments to the rear pre-load. Anyone who rides an AT would know that this exercise is undertaken using the finest of precision tools��.a hammer and punch. Amazingly enough, the handling was fine, although I did have to slacken the chain, which was bar-taut after packing on all of the gear.
Arrived at Alâ??s house bang on time, which is a really rare occurrence for me. He was suitable impressed â?? we donâ??t call him "The Organiser" for nothing.
The good news was that heâ??d also been out on a wee bender the night before, and didnâ??t appear to be in much better condition than I. He was, however, packed and ready to go at 9.00amâ?¦..
Fortune was smiling on us â?? the sun was out after about a week solid of rain, and the temperature was not too bad either. A good startâ?¦
CT â?? Piketberg. 145km
We headed out of CT on the N1, with reasonably light "long weekend" public holiday morning traffic, turning onto the N7 just outside of CT. Heading out through the farmlands around Malmesbury, and on to Piketburg, one was struck with how green the lands were. Weâ??ve had a LOT of rain down here this year.
There are quite a few sections of the N7 that are a little nerve wracking to drive, with the section from Melkbos to Malmesbury being one of them. Very narrow, single carriageway, and a lot of "50/50" overtaking . Not fun taking on into the rising sunâ?¦.
We arrived in Piketberg just after 10.00, and after filling the bikes, decided to grab a fry-up for breakfast. Winkelshok was quite busy, with numerous 4 x 4â??s getting ready to head off into the hills. We had a quiet chuckle at the chap in the shiny new Audi Q7, wondering if he knew what the roads were like heading into the Cederberg!
Piketberg â?? Vanryhnsdorp. 205km
After a leisurely break (you wouldnâ??t have thought that we still had about 600km to go for the day), we hit the road again. First heart stopping moment of the trip â?? weâ??d been back on the N7 for about 10 minutes when I noticed Al roaring up behind me (wellâ?¦.as much as a Dakar can ever "roar"â?¦) gesticulating and flashing lights. Strangely enough, the first thought that entered my mind was that the bike was on fire (??), and so proceeded to execute an emergency stop (wellâ?¦. as close as an AT can ever get to an emergency stopâ?¦). It turned out that excess strap from one of my hastily tied tie-downs had come loose, and was about 2 cm away from getting caught up in the rear sprocket. 130km and hour to dead stop would not have worked out well (those straps have about a 1 ton breaking strain.). Lesson learnt â?? I double-checked those things at every stop for the rest of the trip.
The view down into the Swartland from the Pikenierskloof Pass was stunning. Crystal clear air, blue skies, and emerald green farmlands for as far as the eye could see. (unfortunately no photies). The pass down into Citrusdal is always a joy to ride â?? nice twisties, and too bumpy to go fast enough to scare yourself. I was, however, still getting the feel of the bike with the extra load, so the stretch did require a little more concentration than usual.
The road from Citrusdal to Clanwilliam is also extremely narrow, with no run-off shoulder whatsoever. Every time a 18 wheeler comes toward you, you wonder if there is enough space to pass�. and then you get hit by the "bow wave" of air being pushed by the truck. Entertaining��
The Clanwilliam dam was the fullest Iâ??d ever seen. When we arrived at the wall, there were a good many people that had stopped to see the water gushing from the sluice gates. The water level is not too far below the top of the wall. Apparently 110% full!
From the dam, we headed on to Vanryhnsdorp. Up to this point, you are still riding through the foothills of the Cedeberg, with the land starting to flatten out into the Karoo the closer you get to V-Dorp.
About 10km outside of the town, the police had set up a road-block, checking licences, and one would hope, un-roadworthy vehicles. These things are always quite a pain to come across when youâ??re wearing full kit. The cop stops me, and holds out his hand for my license, obviously not realising that this is about a five minute operation involving removing gloves, trying to find in which velcroed and zipped shut small pocket, out of five, you have your license, while trying to prevent your bike rolling down the hill on which they have stopped you. (in short, kind of like stopping at a toll-gateâ?¦!) The irony of it all was that they didnâ??t even ask us to take off helmets or goggles (reflective iridium lensesâ?¦.). Clearly being able to produce a license was more important than actually being the rightful bearer of the licenseâ?¦..go figure. Ah well, I suppose itâ??s better than them not being there at all.
Anyway, on to the buzzing metropolis of Vanryhsdorp. A quick stop to fill up, rest the buttsâ?¦.and check if the gear was still strapped on.
Vanrhynsdorp â?? Springbok. 254km
The road to Springbok from here is quite deceptive. While appearing pretty flat, itâ??s actually uphill all the way through. By this stage, a spiteful cross wind had picked up, coming in from about an 11 oâ??clock angle. The arrival of the next cold front in the Cape!
Over the years, Iâ??ve travelled this road up to the border about 15 times. Iâ??ve never seen as much greenery as now. We had heard that the Namaqualand flowers season was gearing up to be spectacular, but didnâ??t see that many fields of flowers. Only on our return trip did we realise that we had been travelling into the sun, and as the flowers track the sun, they were facing away from us.
However, the bugs must have been having a field day with the flowers â?? I had to stop to clear my goggles after about 100kmâ?¦â?¦..bug juice aplenty!
This turned out to be a looonnggg stretch. Before setting out in the morning we had agreed to hold cruising speed at about 130km/h. There were various reasons behind the decisionâ?¦â?¦.the AT chews up itâ??s tires at high speed, drinks petrol like a thirsty camel, and doesnâ??t offer the greatest wind protection for those over 6ft tall. The Dakar, being a single, works pretty hard at anything over 130, and also seems to enjoy destroying tires.
The headwind and uphill gradient took its toll, and the fuel consumption for this stretch was terrible. I switched over to reserve about 90km earlier than usual, and Allan only got about 200 km's, as opposed to it's usual 270'odd! He said he was also pretty surprised with the throttle hitting the stop at 120km/hâ?¦.
We pulled into Springbok at about 4pm. Being a public holiday, the pavements had been rolled up, and the town was pretty much shut. (or maybe itâ??s always like thatâ?¦.). I hadnâ??t been able to get hold of the guy at the Orange River campsite at which we were going to overnight, so wasnâ??t sure whether there would be food or booze available. No luck on the booze at Springbok (weâ??d have to rely on the 4 litres of emergency whisky rations that we carried with us), but Al did manage to track down some chops marketed under the label "lamb", but of which the real origins were not apparent.
Springbok â?? Noordoewer (Orange River) 100km
After the previous stretch, this one was a breeze, heading steadily downhill toward the river. The wind had dropped quite a bit too! The last 20km before the river are pretty spectacular. The road winds down through a really barren rocky mountain pass, Vyfmylpoort (or something to that effect). The rocks are a burnt orange colour, and radiate a good amount of heat.
Around the last corner, and there was the Orange River!
We were camping on the South African side, at a campsite at which we had previously spent a few uproarious New Years Eve parties, Oewerbos. We headed onto our first stretch of dirt road��.the real trip had really begun!
The campsite is about 30km along the dirt road which, although a little rocky and potholed, was pretty firm under wheel. We had almost reached the turn-off, when we passed the local general dealer type storeâ?¦..which was open! Excellent â?? cold beer! We had to be pretty inventive when trying to find some space on the bikes to carry the stuff. We bought some of their homemade boerewors as well â?? the woman behind the counter guaranteed that weâ??d be back for more. She wasnâ??t far wrong â?? they really know how to make the stuff up there!
About 2km further down the road (the last 100m was really badly corrugatedâ?¦.or so we thought. We had no idea that this section would be like a bowling green compared to some of the stuff in store for us over the next few days!), we turned off into the farm fields, and down to Oewerbos. The campsite is really well maintained, with lovely green lawns, accompanied by trees for shade. Finally made it, just in time for the great sunset over the river, after 9 hours on the road.
Bikes were quickly unpacked, and tents set up. I hadn't used mine for some time and, as luck would have it, the elastic holding the one of the sets of poles together snapped as I pulled them out of the bag. The only way to set the thing up was to feed one piece though at a time. This little exercise lost its appeal after 10 seconds, and my daily fight with the tent provided Allan with an endless source of entertainment for the rest of the trip. (his minute little tent took about 1 minute to set upâ?¦.)
The evening quickly turned pretty cold, with lots of dew. After a braai and quaffing the frosties (and dipping into the "emergency" whiskey rations), we turned in pretty early, quite knackered after the long day's ride.
My extravagant purchase of a self-inflating mattress was well worth it - these bones are getting too old to sleep on the ground!
