Sedgefield forest explorer

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Zanie

Race Dog
WD Supporter
Joined
Jul 19, 2014
Messages
702
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137
Location
Table View, Cape Town
Bike
Honda CRF-250 Rally
This trip is a “gates trip”, because – in essence – we were trying to answer that one burning question: “Is there really a locked gate?”

Our tracks therefore consisted of many double-backs, tortuous twists and rerouting. As the map apps like to say: Recalculating!!

And then there are the places where only a GPS can help…

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Backstory

My parents very recently moved to Sedgefield (between George and Knysna). Their new house has a few spare rooms as a drawcard for visits from friends and offspring.

As a result, it was only 3 weeks before Lance and I set off to Sedgefield, the long way round. Google Maps shows that the direct route takes 5 hours. We took 15…excluding stops.

The trip there took 2 days, but we also set aside a full day to explore the surrounding roads (and not-so-roads).

For those too lazy to read, here is the trip video:

[flash=800,450]https://www.youtube.com/v/Scm6SP3SdWc[/flash]

For those too lazy even to watch an entire video, the interesting roads / trails can be found on day 4, starting at 6:11.

DAY 1 (21 Dec): Cape Town to Herbertsdale (499 km)

Stats (only started recording at Rawsonville)
Total time (from Rawsonville): 10h42 (37 km/h)
Moving time (from Rawsonville): 8h38 (46 km/h)
Resting time (from Rawsonville): 2h03
Maximum speed: 107 km/h

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We departed at 8:30, quickly putting as much distance as we could between us and town. “Quickly” being the operative word. The little Honda Rally doesn’t do “quickly”. We were in quite a chillaxed mode and Lance has the patience of a saint, hence a blistering top speed recorded for the day of 107 km/h.

We abandoned the highway at Rawsonville, but had to execute a forced double-back to Worcester for fuel, when we realised the Rally wouldn’t make the next fuel station. The bike can do 300 km or more on a tank, but I hadn’t filled up that morning. Silly me.

On some gravel road between Worcester and Robertson:
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A sign with a truck on a downhill is meant to warn of a steep hill and gearing down. We take it as a warning for a spectacular view. We are rarely disappointed.

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We skirted past Robertson, turning off before the Breerivier and heading south past Vrolijkheid Nature Reserve.

Helmet break stop:
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Another view, somewhere before Bonnievale:
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Farmlands on Swellendam Road:
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Lonely house:
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Kliprivier bridge just before Swellendam:
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We had lunch at Old Mill Restaurant in Swellendam. We choose places based on whether you can see your bike!

Two sexy beasts in the background and one in the foreground:
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Lonely houses between Swellendam and Riversdale, on gravel north of the N2:
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The Langeberge:
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River crossing:
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Another river crossing:
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The above crossing was particularly sad, because the bridge is new. This is what it used to look like:

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We took another helmet break and pondered on the difference in bike size. Apparently it’s all about perspective!

A larger-than life 250:
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A forested stretch:
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More Langeberge:
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Korintepoort Dam:
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Forever views after Riversdale:
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Smaller viewing area:
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Now here I must digress to explore the nebulous reaches of my partner’s mind. Until this point, the roads had been pretty, but pedestrian.

Lance’s head was on the swivel constantly (you may pick it up in the video footage) and something like this is what draws him:

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His primal trail urges will be unleashed fully on our exploratory day in three days’ time. Meanwhile, he settled for quaint rural…

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…and a road that was marked as having a locked gate on Tracks for Africa:

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Signs that this road does not see much traffic:
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This is what makes for a happy Lance:
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And since I have a small, nimble bike, I’m happy too!

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“Where the heck are we?”
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We did not find a locked gate this time. Sometimes you win some.

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And yet, Lance was still looking.

That off-shoot to the left caught his attention:
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It was already close on 5pm, so Lance was kept in check.

Back on the main drag:
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We took a road that was marked by (an older version of) Tracks for Africa as a Gouritz River crossing option. This time we reached a gate that was very much locked; necessitating a 40km backtrack/detour. Sometimes you lose some.

At least it had great views as a consolation prize:
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Thanks to the detour, it was now past 6pm…

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…and we hit rush-hour traffic.

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Lance, the eternal optimist, had originally planned a monstrous day of riding. I, the realist, had warned my parents that we would probably take 2 days to get to Sedgefield. It was 6pm and we were nearing Herbertsdale.

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We needed to make a decision: blast through to Sedgefield on N2 tar or overnight near Herberstdale and spend another day exploring back-roads. It was a no-brainer.

We phoned Dwarsrivier Country Getaway, a great place where we had camped twice before. We did not have camping kit with us, so were hoping they had a room free, which they did.

We had not had supper yet and, from the way I was feeling, I knew the Dwarsrivier braai-pack option did not appeal to Lance. He was too tired to DIY.

We asked Dwarsrivier to recommend a place to eat in Herberstdale. There was only one: Herbert’s Place. The lady there was expecting us. Obviously Dwarsrivier had phoned ahead. Small town…

Our hostess was owner, waitress and cook rolled into one. Our meals (fish and chips, and calamari and chips) came with a rarity: chips made from scratch!

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The last 13km leg from Herbertsdale to Dwarsrivier:
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It was 8pm, but thanks to the long summer days there was still light:

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We were the only guests at Dwarsrivier that night (a batch had left earlier that day), but Martin and Jenny were happy to open the bar for us and join us for drinks and a chat.

We learnt that the Gouritz crossing dead-end used to be a through-road, but the crossing had been destroyed in a flood and a local had also locked their gate.
 
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