Greyton , sommer just a lekker dorpie with 6 snobs on the day

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Dux

Bachelor Dog
WD Supporter
Joined
Oct 12, 2009
Messages
10,440
Reaction score
3,297
Location
Cape Town
Bike
Triumph (all models)
So it is years since I last paid Greyton a visit and one Sunday morning my beloved daughter Kayleigh and myself decided to get out for a day , the day dawned bright and windy , it is Cape Town , and we departed about 7.30 and slotted into the N2 traffic , Sir Lowry's pass was fun , as usual . We stopped at Peregrine for breakfast , which is always a good start to the day , Kayleigh loved the place and spent our time their playing on the jungle gym while dad kept himself occupied .

Back on the road again , Houw Hoek pass was over way too quickly and we slogged along the N2 again , the DR purring away ever so contentedly , 
Now there are various routes to Greyton , I prefer taking the R43 to Villiersdorp , 28km further turn right on the Helderstroom road , this is where the gravel starts and the area is beautifully green , a welcome sight after the recent drought , little streams and rivers flowing all  over the place and you ride another 28km along this meandering road till 5km before Greyton where it changes to tar again .

My , how this town has changed , it has certainly grown and seems to be quite the Sunday morning tourist hub , but we rode down the main road looking for a pharmacy ,  found one and I parked the DR next to six spanking newish 1200GS's , Kayleigh ran off to the pharmacy while I was removing gloves , helmet etc , lo and behold a chap walks out and tells me to move the bike , I look around to make sure I am the target of his ridiculous request and to confirm that I am parking legally . Yes it is legal where I am parked and yes , I am his target . So I do the first thing that comes to mind and ask why , his response was that they don't want my bike parked next to theirs . I calmly replied that the bike stays where it is and they had better learn to deal with it , with which I walked away from fuming dickhead .

Of course being such a short time period after breakfast we walked around the town speaking to locals , Kayleigh petting horses that wander freely around the side roads , I am having thoughts of retirement , but too soon for such thoughts so we hit the road again to our next stop , nice roller coaster dirt roads till about 2km before Riviersonderend .
Now this has never been one of my favourite towns , don't know why , but it has become a lot busier over the years , so a quick refuel , cappuchino for myself and milk for Kayleigh and we are out of there . Worthwhile mentioning in town is Ou Meul Bakery , apparently they make the best pie's in the Cape .

So we continue along the N2 and turn off at Stormsvlei toward Bonnievale , about 5km further hit a left on dirt roads towards McGregor , just another one of those towns that I haven't been to in just way too long . And it has also grown , but I am surprised at the size of the informal settlements , they tend to be larger than the town . Sadly while Greyton is a hive of activity , McGregor is a sleepy hollow , the only open shop didn't have card facilities and there is no ATM , one or two restaurants were open but we gave them a skip .I did however notice quite a few new buildings going up so the town is still expanding , but also in comparison this town looks to be very dry compared to Greyton .
While in the area we drove up to Boesmanskloof , this is the start/finish of the Greyton-McGregor hiking trail , it is simply stunning being up there , seemingly on top of the world .

By now we were thirsty and the Camelbak was warm as well , so we hoofed it through to Robertson for refreshment and refuel , from here back we hit back dirt roads which brought us out about 20km from Villiersdorp and straight into a headwind from hell , admittedly the only unpleasant part of our ride and made our way for Franschhoek pass , which was very quiet and it was just a matter of rolling on and off the throttle and carrying corner speed through the myriad bends winding its way over the mountain , I even passed a cruiser in one corner . This road is paradise and must be enjoyed by everyone at least once in their lifetime .
Franschhoek was packed like a sardine can as usual for a Sunday and the last stretch home was genuinely just stuck in traffic .
All in all a lekker day ride , enjoyable for both of us , slightly tempered by the snobs , but even they couldn't  take away the enjoyment from us .
 

Attachments

  • Greyton 1.JPG
    Greyton 1.JPG
    221.3 KB · Views: 688
  • Greyton 2.JPG
    Greyton 2.JPG
    209.6 KB · Views: 691
  • Greyton.JPG
    Greyton.JPG
    82.9 KB · Views: 680
  • Boesmanskloof 1.JPG
    Boesmanskloof 1.JPG
    156.7 KB · Views: 666
  • Boesmanskloof.JPG
    Boesmanskloof.JPG
    110.8 KB · Views: 671
  • McGregor.JPG
    McGregor.JPG
    129.3 KB · Views: 666
Top