Following Horses, cattle and Eastern cape winter

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Thump

Race Dog
WD Supporter
Joined
Sep 11, 2008
Messages
4,060
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112
Location
Port Elizabeth
Bike
KTM 1190 Adventure
The time had finally arrived.

I’ve avoided any dirt riding since last years back problems led to an op in February.
The recovery has not been that great (I’m not that good at resting) but I’d promised the boys we’d do a trip in the June Holidays and so we were going to do a trip, come what may. This is the first tour we've done together and we'd being looking forward to it for some time.
The bikes were serviced and bashplates and hand guards fitted and we were ready to leave…..
(Thanks Inprogress for helping out here)
Except I had some work to finish.  So after spending Friday night and Saturday finishing up reports and quotes, the bikes were packed and ready for early Sunday morning. (4 July)
I’m the handsome one on the left, then Byron and then Owen.
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And we’re off.

At the first robot, Owen calls me and says “Dad, my front brakes don’t work”
I look down at his wheel and see the front tyre is wet on the side. We pull over and yes, the wheel has rubbed through the brake hose. So I phone a friend or two, leave some messages for the Dorkies that sleep late on Sundays.
Owen heads back home while Byron & I head for Hogsback.

Kak Start

First through Markman back roads to Coega, towards the wind turbines and cross the Sundays river at Barkley Bridge and head to Addo for fuel.

Barkley Bridge sunrise
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And the attempted arty shot
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Then up the Zuurberg pass. Where we stopped for coffee and to phone the friends who sleep late on Sundays instead of going to church…..
Inprogress promises to sort Owen out on Monday morning and Paul promises to drop off some money for the repairs and fuel.
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How to pack a KLR for a long trip.
Fortunately we only needed the oil after the really technical sections. Otherwise she was fine.
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Then on to Anne’s villa for the educational part of the trip.
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Even the floor of the toilet was educational with the stars and zodiacs painted on it.
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The ride then continued through aloe country…
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A game farm…
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Then crossing the N10 we rode past Drazilville over the fish river to Bedford. Stopping for lunch along the way
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Byron took a serious dump, killing the wildlife with the oder.  He wasn’t happy that I wouldn’t let him have it for supper.
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We then took the Adelaide road for a while branching of past Primstone to the Koonap river road (R344)
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Then through Post Retief..
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Around rocky ridge to the top of the Katberg pass.
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As always this area always makes you want to camp and explore more.
We came around a bend to be confronted by a herd of wild horses. With no space on either side of the road, they turn around and starting running back down the hill. I got a great video riding slowly behind them down Katberg pass.
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Then the GPS took us on a slight detour to Seymour after which we took the Michell’s pass road to Hogsback.
You can see a lot of BMW rider’s have been through here as the goat’s are scared of bikers.
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We rocked up at the campsite and as no-one else was camping they allowed us to just sleep in the main entertainment area. Had a relaxing night braaiing and enjoying a few beers and ciders.
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Shrooms growing inside next to the fireplace. These okes think of everything LOL.
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Total km travelled was 372km over a 12 hour stretch. The route is shown below.
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Day 2 to follow.
 
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