D
dustsucker
Guest
Day 1-4...click on link below
https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=15394.0
Day 5-8 click below
https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=15490.0
DAY 9 â?? through Frystaat to Gauteng
This morning brought a contrast of emotions. On one side, we where sad about having to split up from our East London brothers, Terry and Tony, but happy to be heading off to JHB to meet da family.
This next part of the trip was just a matter of getting it over with, although we did still have a joll. The change in surrounding colour was nice. Lots of flowers along the road and bright yellow sunflower fields.
I donâ??t know why they call the Frystaat Rugby team â??Cheetasâ??, they should be called â??Mieliesâ?? or â??Blometjiesâ??. Lots more of those there.
Anyway, quick stop in Frankfort for some grub. Then around the East side of the Vaaldam (Vaal meander route they call it) which put us briefly through Mpumalanga. Never knew the dam was that bieeeg.
Then again, everything is bieeeger in Gauteng. â??Why do these Vaalies come to Cape Townâ?? I thought. â??Youâ??ve got your own frikken sea to test your fancy-shpancy spietboats!â??
Once we started hitting JHB, the dreaded urban jungle set in. To aggravate the situation, I made a kock-up by leaving my Zumo on â??quickest route to Oumaâ??. We ended up winding our way through not so lekker places including Lenasia, where the roads werenâ??t even maped correctly. Eishhhâ?¦
But never fear, we made it and happy to see the kids and missus, even Ouma, whoâ??s name we had muttered a couple of times throught the tougher parts of the trip.
One happy family.
Ouma got so excited, she spilt her 2nd bottle of wine all over. This is one tough lady, which can drink, curse and party with the best, all at the tender age of 80!
So we had her paardei the next night. Unfortunately, the bottle of Jack didnâ??t make it to JHB, but her present did.
It was also great to see Ma (Mother in Law) again and she really treated us tit.
Hereâ??s my chance to make some pointsâ?¦â??Thanks Ma, youâ??re the best, and the reason I look forward to my wife getting older is, you both get better with ageâ??.
I know Iâ??m laying it on thick, but I mean it.
Those two nights werenâ??t even a chance to rest, as we had to party and entertain the fandamily.
No rest at night either, fulfilling the husbandly dutiesâ?¦. Jiga-Jiga, Pata-pata, huma-humaâ?¦you know what I mean?
Dustsucker says: Ja right, jiga-jiga and pata-pata, now i know why Swaerrie`s brand new gloves looked like this way before we got to Gauties.
Seriously though, its always particularly heart warming to see my bambinos (Lorenzo 4yrs and Isabella 3 yrs). When youâ??re with them, they drive you insane, but when theyâ??re not around, you miss them within minutes.
For you guys out there still wondering, there can be great pleasures in marriage and fatherhood
Day 12 â?? JHB, Orkney, Schweizer-Reneke
All the fairwells and kisses possible. Ma even shed a tear at our departure.
We had to say goodbye to Andre too, and it would be Swaertjie and I from here on back. There wasnâ??t much to see for the first couple of hundred kâ??s. The first major city was â??built on a prayerâ?? Potch. All over town where banners with this type of undertone. At least they are optimistic and hope for the best.
The hope was however short lived as just outside town, an new Isuzu bakkie was lying on its wide with a poor young lightie sitting on the tar next to it crying. (perhaps also praying, but that Pa doesnâ??t find out?)
We swung by Oppie-koppie MX track to do a victory lap, but found it closed
The road continued to be long and boring after that, so we stopped at Regina bottle store in the middle of nowhere, between Orkney and Wolmaransstad. This weathered face old oom (also claiming to be originally from the Cape), was manning the till. They had boggerall for us to drink except warm hard-tack off the shelf
Anyway, we found some in Wolmarans. The activity in this dorp was quite strange. It was Monday mid-dayish and the town was full of locals shopping, keiering and just hanging around?
â??Donâ??t people work in this placeâ?? we thought.
Leaving town, I decided that was enough of tar and hit a grondpad detour. Before soon the weather turned naasty and we found ourselves in a â??maase donderstormâ??. Lightening was moering down around us and heavy rain klapping our faces. The road turned to red slush and so did Swaers temprement.
We where soaked within minutes. I couldnâ??t help laughing to myself thinking of the profanities that would be coming from under Swaertjies helmet.
He hates mud!
We agreed to doubled back and find the closest tar road to take us further towards Schwartze Reneke.
Good thing we did, as in the chaos of the weather, I estimated that we would have only 20km of more mud to go, and had suggested we continue. When we hit the tar, the board showed 70km to go! Would have been a looong 20km. I was renamed â??Mr. Only 20k moreâ?? from there on.
That over with, we found ourselves a B&B in town where we parked the bonies under the braai lappa. The lady there was kind enough to tumble dry our clothing for us.
If thereâ??s one thing that stood out in this dorp, were the size of the boere. We went to play pool at the â??Golf clubâ??, which was full of bulle. Im talking bieeg okes.
Swaer reckoned they get fed mincemeat protein shakes as babies!
Day 13 â?? Northern Province - Kareespruit
After the long, straight sections of the previous day, I was super keen on some more interesting dirt roads.
Just outside Schwartze, we took a dirt road that should have led us all the way to Taung. For those that donâ??t know, Taung is not only a tiny Batswana village, but also a mine site where a million year old skull of an infant was found, putting us on the global map with regards to first traces of human development.
The dirt road was wet from the day before and ended up to not really be a road. It was a mostly unused trail with only traces of horses passing through. It was probably the most remote section we had ridden. The trail was difficult to follow as it often spread up under the Dooring trees. At some points my Garmin didnâ??t tie up with where we were, I thought we where â??in die kakâ??. Even Swaertjie pulled out his Nokia Navigator in hope. Fortunately we heard bells in the distance, those types tied around goats necks. We soon realized there was a village in the distance.
In this village, were these beautifully finished mud houses. What a different look! Clean, neat and tidy. The locals pleasantly greeted us as we parked and asked for directions. The man we spoke too looked just like a bushman, short & wrinkled with deep eye sockets. You can see, as we did in all the other parts of the country, that these locals have very specific roots. We handed out some books and puzzles for the kids.
Dustsucker says: See the red dot on the dogs bum? This dog was covered with sores and Swaerie took some antiseptic spray from the medical kit and gave puppy a vetenary inspection.
Swaerrie says: Not quite sure of the name of the village but itâ??s close to Modimong.
Leaving the bush, we found a bottle store to replenish the required liquids. As different as this place was to the Transkei, the Carling still tasted piele.
Taung skul site was a real dissapointment. So much for an important archealogical finding! There is stuff-all there of interest, nothing marked, no museum or tribute, nothing. Just 3 arogant guards at the gate and a mine shaft full of sh1t. Yeah, literallyâ?¦and thereâ??s a public toilet 10 meters away. There isnâ??t much pride in this area. I know, Iâ??m rantingâ?¦
From here flat out to Kuruman through Reivilo. Quite a long dirt road. Some loose middlemanetjies gave Swaertjie a good wake up call.
Once in Kuruman, we started debating about the way on. We where both quite tired by then and as much as I wanted to stick to the plan, the tought of getting home was talking to me.
Its funny how at some point your mind and body says, enough, but somewhere deep inside thereâ??s that little candle of adventure still burning. â??Stuff thatâ?? . Lets go to Postmansburg and on to Ugeneâ??s Game farm, Kareespruit, as planned. I knew we would be well received and treated there.
Passing the Sishen mine area was impressive. Moerse mine! Apparently the 5 largest open cast Iron ore mine in the world. All the road surfaces, telephone poles and trees are purple/red for kmâ??s. This is obviously from the Iron oxide dust spread around.
Here we stopped at these two retired mine giants, excavator and tipper. Massive
Along the way where these particular looking bird nests, hanging over the lines. I think they work for Eskom and cut the power off when instructed. They are weavers
Kareespruit is 30km south of Postmansburg, on the R325, and a beauty game farm. Eugene, owner of Barnets spares, offered to put us up for the night there. His manager, Erik, took us game viewing the evening we got there. Absolutely stunning. I was completely in knoppies, hanging out the bakkie window while viewing and filming the game. The whole place is so well laid out and organised. Well done Eugene and Erik! I call him Euge (huge) from now on, what a great guy.
We obviously had a great braai and real meat. Plenty of it! Obviously a couple of dops and even a few Jaggermeister. Not many people in most of our trip knew what this even was. You could see we where in good hands.
We did a quick air filter wash and TLC on the bonies before sleepies time.
https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=15394.0
Day 5-8 click below
https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=15490.0
DAY 9 â?? through Frystaat to Gauteng
This morning brought a contrast of emotions. On one side, we where sad about having to split up from our East London brothers, Terry and Tony, but happy to be heading off to JHB to meet da family.
This next part of the trip was just a matter of getting it over with, although we did still have a joll. The change in surrounding colour was nice. Lots of flowers along the road and bright yellow sunflower fields.
I donâ??t know why they call the Frystaat Rugby team â??Cheetasâ??, they should be called â??Mieliesâ?? or â??Blometjiesâ??. Lots more of those there.
Anyway, quick stop in Frankfort for some grub. Then around the East side of the Vaaldam (Vaal meander route they call it) which put us briefly through Mpumalanga. Never knew the dam was that bieeeg.
Then again, everything is bieeeger in Gauteng. â??Why do these Vaalies come to Cape Townâ?? I thought. â??Youâ??ve got your own frikken sea to test your fancy-shpancy spietboats!â??
Once we started hitting JHB, the dreaded urban jungle set in. To aggravate the situation, I made a kock-up by leaving my Zumo on â??quickest route to Oumaâ??. We ended up winding our way through not so lekker places including Lenasia, where the roads werenâ??t even maped correctly. Eishhhâ?¦
But never fear, we made it and happy to see the kids and missus, even Ouma, whoâ??s name we had muttered a couple of times throught the tougher parts of the trip.
One happy family.
Ouma got so excited, she spilt her 2nd bottle of wine all over. This is one tough lady, which can drink, curse and party with the best, all at the tender age of 80!
So we had her paardei the next night. Unfortunately, the bottle of Jack didnâ??t make it to JHB, but her present did.
It was also great to see Ma (Mother in Law) again and she really treated us tit.
Hereâ??s my chance to make some pointsâ?¦â??Thanks Ma, youâ??re the best, and the reason I look forward to my wife getting older is, you both get better with ageâ??.
I know Iâ??m laying it on thick, but I mean it.
Those two nights werenâ??t even a chance to rest, as we had to party and entertain the fandamily.
No rest at night either, fulfilling the husbandly dutiesâ?¦. Jiga-Jiga, Pata-pata, huma-humaâ?¦you know what I mean?
Dustsucker says: Ja right, jiga-jiga and pata-pata, now i know why Swaerrie`s brand new gloves looked like this way before we got to Gauties.
Seriously though, its always particularly heart warming to see my bambinos (Lorenzo 4yrs and Isabella 3 yrs). When youâ??re with them, they drive you insane, but when theyâ??re not around, you miss them within minutes.
For you guys out there still wondering, there can be great pleasures in marriage and fatherhood
Day 12 â?? JHB, Orkney, Schweizer-Reneke
All the fairwells and kisses possible. Ma even shed a tear at our departure.
We had to say goodbye to Andre too, and it would be Swaertjie and I from here on back. There wasnâ??t much to see for the first couple of hundred kâ??s. The first major city was â??built on a prayerâ?? Potch. All over town where banners with this type of undertone. At least they are optimistic and hope for the best.
The hope was however short lived as just outside town, an new Isuzu bakkie was lying on its wide with a poor young lightie sitting on the tar next to it crying. (perhaps also praying, but that Pa doesnâ??t find out?)
We swung by Oppie-koppie MX track to do a victory lap, but found it closed
The road continued to be long and boring after that, so we stopped at Regina bottle store in the middle of nowhere, between Orkney and Wolmaransstad. This weathered face old oom (also claiming to be originally from the Cape), was manning the till. They had boggerall for us to drink except warm hard-tack off the shelf
Anyway, we found some in Wolmarans. The activity in this dorp was quite strange. It was Monday mid-dayish and the town was full of locals shopping, keiering and just hanging around?
â??Donâ??t people work in this placeâ?? we thought.
Leaving town, I decided that was enough of tar and hit a grondpad detour. Before soon the weather turned naasty and we found ourselves in a â??maase donderstormâ??. Lightening was moering down around us and heavy rain klapping our faces. The road turned to red slush and so did Swaers temprement.
We where soaked within minutes. I couldnâ??t help laughing to myself thinking of the profanities that would be coming from under Swaertjies helmet.
He hates mud!
We agreed to doubled back and find the closest tar road to take us further towards Schwartze Reneke.
Good thing we did, as in the chaos of the weather, I estimated that we would have only 20km of more mud to go, and had suggested we continue. When we hit the tar, the board showed 70km to go! Would have been a looong 20km. I was renamed â??Mr. Only 20k moreâ?? from there on.
That over with, we found ourselves a B&B in town where we parked the bonies under the braai lappa. The lady there was kind enough to tumble dry our clothing for us.
If thereâ??s one thing that stood out in this dorp, were the size of the boere. We went to play pool at the â??Golf clubâ??, which was full of bulle. Im talking bieeg okes.
Swaer reckoned they get fed mincemeat protein shakes as babies!
Day 13 â?? Northern Province - Kareespruit
After the long, straight sections of the previous day, I was super keen on some more interesting dirt roads.
Just outside Schwartze, we took a dirt road that should have led us all the way to Taung. For those that donâ??t know, Taung is not only a tiny Batswana village, but also a mine site where a million year old skull of an infant was found, putting us on the global map with regards to first traces of human development.
The dirt road was wet from the day before and ended up to not really be a road. It was a mostly unused trail with only traces of horses passing through. It was probably the most remote section we had ridden. The trail was difficult to follow as it often spread up under the Dooring trees. At some points my Garmin didnâ??t tie up with where we were, I thought we where â??in die kakâ??. Even Swaertjie pulled out his Nokia Navigator in hope. Fortunately we heard bells in the distance, those types tied around goats necks. We soon realized there was a village in the distance.
In this village, were these beautifully finished mud houses. What a different look! Clean, neat and tidy. The locals pleasantly greeted us as we parked and asked for directions. The man we spoke too looked just like a bushman, short & wrinkled with deep eye sockets. You can see, as we did in all the other parts of the country, that these locals have very specific roots. We handed out some books and puzzles for the kids.
Dustsucker says: See the red dot on the dogs bum? This dog was covered with sores and Swaerie took some antiseptic spray from the medical kit and gave puppy a vetenary inspection.
Swaerrie says: Not quite sure of the name of the village but itâ??s close to Modimong.
Leaving the bush, we found a bottle store to replenish the required liquids. As different as this place was to the Transkei, the Carling still tasted piele.
Taung skul site was a real dissapointment. So much for an important archealogical finding! There is stuff-all there of interest, nothing marked, no museum or tribute, nothing. Just 3 arogant guards at the gate and a mine shaft full of sh1t. Yeah, literallyâ?¦and thereâ??s a public toilet 10 meters away. There isnâ??t much pride in this area. I know, Iâ??m rantingâ?¦
From here flat out to Kuruman through Reivilo. Quite a long dirt road. Some loose middlemanetjies gave Swaertjie a good wake up call.
Once in Kuruman, we started debating about the way on. We where both quite tired by then and as much as I wanted to stick to the plan, the tought of getting home was talking to me.
Its funny how at some point your mind and body says, enough, but somewhere deep inside thereâ??s that little candle of adventure still burning. â??Stuff thatâ?? . Lets go to Postmansburg and on to Ugeneâ??s Game farm, Kareespruit, as planned. I knew we would be well received and treated there.
Passing the Sishen mine area was impressive. Moerse mine! Apparently the 5 largest open cast Iron ore mine in the world. All the road surfaces, telephone poles and trees are purple/red for kmâ??s. This is obviously from the Iron oxide dust spread around.
Here we stopped at these two retired mine giants, excavator and tipper. Massive
Along the way where these particular looking bird nests, hanging over the lines. I think they work for Eskom and cut the power off when instructed. They are weavers
Kareespruit is 30km south of Postmansburg, on the R325, and a beauty game farm. Eugene, owner of Barnets spares, offered to put us up for the night there. His manager, Erik, took us game viewing the evening we got there. Absolutely stunning. I was completely in knoppies, hanging out the bakkie window while viewing and filming the game. The whole place is so well laid out and organised. Well done Eugene and Erik! I call him Euge (huge) from now on, what a great guy.
We obviously had a great braai and real meat. Plenty of it! Obviously a couple of dops and even a few Jaggermeister. Not many people in most of our trip knew what this even was. You could see we where in good hands.
We did a quick air filter wash and TLC on the bonies before sleepies time.
