This trip started about a month ago, at the beginning of April. We had planned to spend the 10 days the 3 public holidays offered (with two days of leave in between) in Mozambique with the cages, racking up dives. Due to unfortunate circumstances - the trip organiser having his knee replaced for the third time - everything fell through, and I hastily had to make another plan, my last proper holiday having been a couple of months back and the rat race really getting to me the last while - just HAD to get away. So, over a couple of whiskeys with the SO, a bike trip was decided upon.
Her parents live on a farm near Cradock, and she was quite keen to go visit them (and they to meet me), so we decided that that would be the end destination. I quickly set about working out a route, asking questions on the forum and organising a bike to do the trip with (what, do 3000 km on the KLR in 10 days? NOOOOO!).
So, in short order a Aprilia Caponord was booked, a route was worked out, with thanks to the WDs that contributed, a family-owned house in Kasouga which swayed the route slightly, and with Cradock as end-destination, we were booking accommodation for sleep-overs on the way between destinations.
Everything was set and we were ready to go, when, the week before we left, the Caponord's availability became doubtful, with it being demonstrated to a potential buyer on the morning we were supposed to leave. Much deliberation and debate and whiskey later, we decided that we'll forego the dirty bits and take a GTR down (you can still see lots of scenery from tar, no?), quick phone call and the GTR is available for us... this was however not the case when I phoned to find out when I can pick it up: "Oh, you want it THIS weekend?? Sory, Bike SA have it this weekend."
So, with no other choice really, the KLR it was. I was dreading the idea of doing our proposed route on the KLR. The first day specifically, 600 km, mainly tar, and the last day, 800 km, ALL tar... I was having visions of kidney failure and bachelorhood, but alas, so it was to be.
The proposed route was as follows:
Leave Pretoria - highway as far down as Clarens/Bergville. Then try and find as much dirt as possible to Himeville, where we booked a backpackers room at the Arms.
Leave early, arriving at Kasouga the next night, via Matatiele, Mt. Fletcher, Elliott, Queenstown, Hogsback, Grahamstown, Kasouga, where we'd spend the next whole day chilling on the beach.
Then leave the next morning, travelling to Cradock via Baviaanskloof, with a sleepover in the Kloof.
Then spend a couple of days with the family on the farm, and doing the stretch home from Cradock (800-900 km, depending on your route) on Sunday, the 4th of May.
So, peace was made with the KLR. I had the Friday off as well (we were leaving the Saturday), and I serviced the bike, made sure everything was in order, and started packing.
packed and ready to go - that D606 had about 1000 km on)
We got away fairly early, it was a perfect day for riding - not hot, and the sun was out. Saw hundreds of bikes out, everyone very friendly, some BMW riders even waved back! >
We left the highway at Villiers, after filling up in Heidelberg, and took the not-so-scenic regional routes to Reitz, where a fabulous breakfast was enjoyed. Past Bethlehem, and Clarens arrived. It has been a long time since I've been to Clarens, and it is incredible how it has completely lost its small-town charm, it has become very commercialised, catering to the GP, pseudo-4x4-driving yuppies. Pity.
Run-off for the Lesotho Highlands Water Project - Leo was here recently as well
So we fill up and move off through the first highlight of the trip, Golden Gate. With spectacular views all around, Golden Gate really is a magnificent experience on a bike! (No photos here yet - will upload them as soon as I get them off her camera) But my ass was really unhappy with me at this point. We hadn't done any dirt, and that GTR would have been mighty fine. The SO, on her third EVER bike trip, also mentioned something about mASSage later... She was thankfully not vocal at all about her aches and pains. We decided to head to the N3, to try and get to Himeville before dark. Boring highway... We needed to get off the highway at Mooi Rivier to get to Himeville vir Nottingham Road. JUST before Moor Rivier, there's a R 34-00 toll gate. I decided fark it, it's is the Midlands after all, and took the alternative route, which proved to be SPECTACULAR! We took a bit of a wrong direction in Mooi Rivier but eventually ended up on the road to Nottingham/Himeville. The sun was really getting low, so I was caning the KLR through those twisties, with spectacular views greeting us around every corner, exhilirating riding! By the time we reached the 50 km dirt section before Himeville though, the sun was down... we had no choice but to push on. I had luckily ridden this road a year and a bit ago on our Sani trip with SGB, and could spot a couple of the more challenging corners before entering htem. There wasn't much traffic on the road either, and we arrived in Himeville at around 7. It was COLD, but luckily not raining. There were a LOT of bikes around! A hot shower, a couple of drinks in the bar and a fabulous chicken and mushroom pie later, we crashed for the night. The route we ended up taking worked out to around 750 km.
Leaving Himeville Arms
We rode around Himeville, checking the sites, it was dark when we arrived, so no exploring.
Himeville really is set in awesome country-side
We stopped for breakfast in Underberg, 6 km down the road. We were very obviously in a holiday mood already ;D The day had the promise of arriving at the ocean, which, for us Gauties, is ALWAYS a big deal! So off we were, over Matatiele, Swartberg, Mt. Fletcher, etc.
The dirt started just after Swartberg
On the way to Mt. Fletcher... snow-capped mountains in the distance
Mt. Fletcher
I had a look at the map, and saw the road to Rhodes had a pass in it... Naude's Nek. It was indicated as a 45 km detour, and we thought what the hell, let's do it. ;D
Pulled over for what must have been a couple of WDs on BMs on the way, thanks for the dusting guys
Really great scenery along the way to the Nek
Interesting cloud formations
Some shenanigans
Ouboet on the HP2 was on what seemed like a solo out ride - IDENTIFY YOURSELF! ;D
A smoke break, among other things
The view - and no, I don't have a shot looking down
Thins were going on merrily - I had given up on the idea of making it to Kasouga that evening, and was hoping to make it to somewhere where we can lay our heads down, got to Naude's Nek, which was probably the highlight of my trip.
Naude's Nek, West-bound
Apparently there are multiple species of alpine plants that have not been catalogued growing on the Nek.
It is mostly impassable in winter due to snow and wind. Temperatures in winter can reach such extremes as -30 deg C. If you do happen to get stranded on the Nek, there is a hunting lodge within reasonable walking distance form the peak. It was recently sold to some church organisation for in the vicinity of R 16 million.
The way down was a HELL of a lot of fun, and we saw a African Black Eagle or Verreaux's Eagle (Aquila verreauxii), and two juveniles, really majestic animals... Arrived in Rhodes, and decided that it would be our destination for the day
Rhodes is a REALLY quaint town, nestled between the mountains
After dinner in the Rhodes hotel, we slept over in a tiny little house on the main road, had the fireplace going the whole night (it was COLD!). Distance for the day was about 400 km.
Off the next morning, adamant to make it to Kasouga (we had now missed out on our whole day lying on the beach). Leaving Rhodes, we were treated to good dirt and fantastic scenery. I was really romanticising the idea of giving up city life and taking up farming in these parts.
We were hastily making for Elliot, trying to make up as much distance in as little time as possible. We had ridden in under the cloud cover, and my spirits were sinking. It was cold, luckily not raining, but the clouds were looking very threatening, when we came upon this sight:
As we stopped, we spotted two Secretary Birds (Sagittarius serpentarius) prowling the field in front of the snow fall... I don't have any photos that do them any justice, so you must maar believe me. It was a nice touch on the scenery
Then on to Barkley East and Elliot. We had to stop in Elliot to buy some petrol, cigarettes and some OBS ;D. It was quite misty, and on the way out the mist got so thick we had to turn back, stopping for breakfast on the outskirts of Elliot. Luckily by the time we had finished the mist had lifted a fair amount and we were off again, destination Queenstown. I was a little weary of taking dirt with poor visibility, so we opted for the tar, riding through Dordrecht to see the much-talked about church.
It was COLD!
From here it was a fairly uneventful dreary, wet and cold ride over Queenstown, Fort Beaufort and Grahamstown, to Port Alfred for a beer and a hand-over...
The entrance to the Port Alfred marina/harbour
Fire-bucket getting handed over.
Bobnob had a beer with us, and was off, he left in the dark to ride through to East London for a sleep-over at in-laws on his way to Lesotho. It was a pleasure top meet you A!
We arrived in Kasouga in the pitch black of night, but found the house to be cosy and warm, and fell right into bed. Distance for the day... ummm... I don't know... does it matter?
The next morning we awoke and it was slightly over-cast, but luckily cleared up later. We decided to take a long walk on the beach. This is about the only thing to do in Kasouga, as there is not a single shop in the place, not even a pub.
The town hall
The town's main intersection
Some nice dune-boarding oppurtunities all over. The beaches are also completely empty
She makes a great pillion too! ;D
Then that afternoon we were off to PE to meet her siblings. We struggled to find it, but eventually stumbled upon the dirt road between Cannon Rocks and Alexandria. Almost bought a couple of cows on this road, coming over a blind rise. This is dairy country, and oh so beautiful!
Arrived in PE, went out for a nice dinner and a couple of drinks. It was VERY weird to be seated in a car again Slept soundly in the biggest bed I've ever seen and awoke early to be on the way to Baviaans. We first had to ride all over PE to drop off keys and birthday presents, etc, but we were out of there at around 11.
We found the Elands rivier road quite easily (thanks for the suggestion Watty, it was well worth it), which turned out to be great as well, apart from the last bit, which was very rocky, corrugated and a bit of loose sand at the end. Stopped in Patensie for the last fuel before Baviaans, and off we went. I was really looking forward to Baviaans, having read so much about it on the forum.
Her parents live on a farm near Cradock, and she was quite keen to go visit them (and they to meet me), so we decided that that would be the end destination. I quickly set about working out a route, asking questions on the forum and organising a bike to do the trip with (what, do 3000 km on the KLR in 10 days? NOOOOO!).
So, in short order a Aprilia Caponord was booked, a route was worked out, with thanks to the WDs that contributed, a family-owned house in Kasouga which swayed the route slightly, and with Cradock as end-destination, we were booking accommodation for sleep-overs on the way between destinations.
Everything was set and we were ready to go, when, the week before we left, the Caponord's availability became doubtful, with it being demonstrated to a potential buyer on the morning we were supposed to leave. Much deliberation and debate and whiskey later, we decided that we'll forego the dirty bits and take a GTR down (you can still see lots of scenery from tar, no?), quick phone call and the GTR is available for us... this was however not the case when I phoned to find out when I can pick it up: "Oh, you want it THIS weekend?? Sory, Bike SA have it this weekend."
So, with no other choice really, the KLR it was. I was dreading the idea of doing our proposed route on the KLR. The first day specifically, 600 km, mainly tar, and the last day, 800 km, ALL tar... I was having visions of kidney failure and bachelorhood, but alas, so it was to be.
The proposed route was as follows:
Leave Pretoria - highway as far down as Clarens/Bergville. Then try and find as much dirt as possible to Himeville, where we booked a backpackers room at the Arms.
Leave early, arriving at Kasouga the next night, via Matatiele, Mt. Fletcher, Elliott, Queenstown, Hogsback, Grahamstown, Kasouga, where we'd spend the next whole day chilling on the beach.
Then leave the next morning, travelling to Cradock via Baviaanskloof, with a sleepover in the Kloof.
Then spend a couple of days with the family on the farm, and doing the stretch home from Cradock (800-900 km, depending on your route) on Sunday, the 4th of May.
So, peace was made with the KLR. I had the Friday off as well (we were leaving the Saturday), and I serviced the bike, made sure everything was in order, and started packing.
packed and ready to go - that D606 had about 1000 km on)
We got away fairly early, it was a perfect day for riding - not hot, and the sun was out. Saw hundreds of bikes out, everyone very friendly, some BMW riders even waved back! >
We left the highway at Villiers, after filling up in Heidelberg, and took the not-so-scenic regional routes to Reitz, where a fabulous breakfast was enjoyed. Past Bethlehem, and Clarens arrived. It has been a long time since I've been to Clarens, and it is incredible how it has completely lost its small-town charm, it has become very commercialised, catering to the GP, pseudo-4x4-driving yuppies. Pity.
Run-off for the Lesotho Highlands Water Project - Leo was here recently as well
So we fill up and move off through the first highlight of the trip, Golden Gate. With spectacular views all around, Golden Gate really is a magnificent experience on a bike! (No photos here yet - will upload them as soon as I get them off her camera) But my ass was really unhappy with me at this point. We hadn't done any dirt, and that GTR would have been mighty fine. The SO, on her third EVER bike trip, also mentioned something about mASSage later... She was thankfully not vocal at all about her aches and pains. We decided to head to the N3, to try and get to Himeville before dark. Boring highway... We needed to get off the highway at Mooi Rivier to get to Himeville vir Nottingham Road. JUST before Moor Rivier, there's a R 34-00 toll gate. I decided fark it, it's is the Midlands after all, and took the alternative route, which proved to be SPECTACULAR! We took a bit of a wrong direction in Mooi Rivier but eventually ended up on the road to Nottingham/Himeville. The sun was really getting low, so I was caning the KLR through those twisties, with spectacular views greeting us around every corner, exhilirating riding! By the time we reached the 50 km dirt section before Himeville though, the sun was down... we had no choice but to push on. I had luckily ridden this road a year and a bit ago on our Sani trip with SGB, and could spot a couple of the more challenging corners before entering htem. There wasn't much traffic on the road either, and we arrived in Himeville at around 7. It was COLD, but luckily not raining. There were a LOT of bikes around! A hot shower, a couple of drinks in the bar and a fabulous chicken and mushroom pie later, we crashed for the night. The route we ended up taking worked out to around 750 km.
Leaving Himeville Arms
We rode around Himeville, checking the sites, it was dark when we arrived, so no exploring.
Himeville really is set in awesome country-side
We stopped for breakfast in Underberg, 6 km down the road. We were very obviously in a holiday mood already ;D The day had the promise of arriving at the ocean, which, for us Gauties, is ALWAYS a big deal! So off we were, over Matatiele, Swartberg, Mt. Fletcher, etc.
The dirt started just after Swartberg
On the way to Mt. Fletcher... snow-capped mountains in the distance
Mt. Fletcher
I had a look at the map, and saw the road to Rhodes had a pass in it... Naude's Nek. It was indicated as a 45 km detour, and we thought what the hell, let's do it. ;D
Pulled over for what must have been a couple of WDs on BMs on the way, thanks for the dusting guys
Really great scenery along the way to the Nek
Interesting cloud formations
Some shenanigans
Ouboet on the HP2 was on what seemed like a solo out ride - IDENTIFY YOURSELF! ;D
A smoke break, among other things
The view - and no, I don't have a shot looking down
Thins were going on merrily - I had given up on the idea of making it to Kasouga that evening, and was hoping to make it to somewhere where we can lay our heads down, got to Naude's Nek, which was probably the highlight of my trip.
Naude's Nek, West-bound
Apparently there are multiple species of alpine plants that have not been catalogued growing on the Nek.
It is mostly impassable in winter due to snow and wind. Temperatures in winter can reach such extremes as -30 deg C. If you do happen to get stranded on the Nek, there is a hunting lodge within reasonable walking distance form the peak. It was recently sold to some church organisation for in the vicinity of R 16 million.
The way down was a HELL of a lot of fun, and we saw a African Black Eagle or Verreaux's Eagle (Aquila verreauxii), and two juveniles, really majestic animals... Arrived in Rhodes, and decided that it would be our destination for the day
Rhodes is a REALLY quaint town, nestled between the mountains
After dinner in the Rhodes hotel, we slept over in a tiny little house on the main road, had the fireplace going the whole night (it was COLD!). Distance for the day was about 400 km.
Off the next morning, adamant to make it to Kasouga (we had now missed out on our whole day lying on the beach). Leaving Rhodes, we were treated to good dirt and fantastic scenery. I was really romanticising the idea of giving up city life and taking up farming in these parts
.
We were hastily making for Elliot, trying to make up as much distance in as little time as possible. We had ridden in under the cloud cover, and my spirits were sinking. It was cold, luckily not raining, but the clouds were looking very threatening, when we came upon this sight:
As we stopped, we spotted two Secretary Birds (Sagittarius serpentarius) prowling the field in front of the snow fall... I don't have any photos that do them any justice, so you must maar believe me. It was a nice touch on the scenery
Then on to Barkley East and Elliot. We had to stop in Elliot to buy some petrol, cigarettes and some OBS ;D. It was quite misty, and on the way out the mist got so thick we had to turn back, stopping for breakfast on the outskirts of Elliot. Luckily by the time we had finished the mist had lifted a fair amount and we were off again, destination Queenstown. I was a little weary of taking dirt with poor visibility, so we opted for the tar, riding through Dordrecht to see the much-talked about church.
It was COLD!
From here it was a fairly uneventful dreary, wet and cold ride over Queenstown, Fort Beaufort and Grahamstown, to Port Alfred for a beer and a hand-over...
The entrance to the Port Alfred marina/harbour
Fire-bucket getting handed over.
Bobnob had a beer with us, and was off, he left in the dark to ride through to East London for a sleep-over at in-laws on his way to Lesotho. It was a pleasure top meet you A!
We arrived in Kasouga in the pitch black of night, but found the house to be cosy and warm, and fell right into bed. Distance for the day... ummm... I don't know... does it matter?
The next morning we awoke and it was slightly over-cast, but luckily cleared up later. We decided to take a long walk on the beach. This is about the only thing to do in Kasouga, as there is not a single shop in the place, not even a pub.
The town hall
The town's main intersection
Some nice dune-boarding oppurtunities all over. The beaches are also completely empty
She makes a great pillion too! ;D
Then that afternoon we were off to PE to meet her siblings. We struggled to find it, but eventually stumbled upon the dirt road between Cannon Rocks and Alexandria. Almost bought a couple of cows on this road, coming over a blind rise. This is dairy country, and oh so beautiful!
Arrived in PE, went out for a nice dinner and a couple of drinks. It was VERY weird to be seated in a car again
Slept soundly in the biggest bed I've ever seen and awoke early to be on the way to Baviaans. We first had to ride all over PE to drop off keys and birthday presents, etc, but we were out of there at around 11.We found the Elands rivier road quite easily (thanks for the suggestion Watty, it was well worth it), which turned out to be great as well, apart from the last bit, which was very rocky, corrugated and a bit of loose sand at the end. Stopped in Patensie for the last fuel before Baviaans, and off we went. I was really looking forward to Baviaans, having read so much about it on the forum.
