Groenrivier on the West Coast (short 2day there-and-back)

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MellowJo

Race Dog
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Anybody heard about Groenrivier? Well it is nowhere, on the West Coast somewhere between Strandfontein and Alexander Bay, or to be more precise, between Brand-se-baai and Hondeklipbaai …..

A group decided to visit this river mouth over the weekend of the 10th of September. I already had a commitment for the Friday night and could not join the Friday fun way to Strandfontein for the first night’s sleepover.

Saturday: 400kms

I got up a 5 on Saturday morning (after waking at 2am, 3am and 4am just to check if I did not oversleep). I then packed the last few odds and ends and sped up the R27 to Velddrif where I stopped for a nice warm cuppa tea.

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Then I tackled the “spoorpad” all along the Sishen-Saldanha rail track till I got to Strandfontein where I met the rest of the crew at 8, busy with breakfast.

From Strandfontein we went to Lutzville where we stocked up on food and set off to the coast at Skaapvlei. Here Wynand sustained a puncture of his brand new Mitas rear tyre which was fitted two days before (the culprit looked like a staple of some sorts). First we tried some mousse but this was not very successful.

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We eventually did it the hard way by fitting a new tube.

From Skaapvlei we meandered along the coast to Brand-se-baai, on past the salt pans and eventually on to the (tweespoor) sandy road to Groenrivier.

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It started off OK but soon we were in very soft stuff, 1st gear grind with feet paddling. I soon found out that I needed to get into 3rd gear at about 40-50 ks to be as comfortable a possible. This did not stop me from being dumped right over the bush !!

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What? We must go that way ???? Check the sand bru !!

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Eventually we decided to call it a day about 30 Kms before we got to Groenrivier. This turned out to be an excellent decision as the campsite was absolutely idyllic.

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By sunset we were set up, with the campfire going all worries forgotten ....

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Sunday: 500kms

After a good night's rest with the white noise of the sea, we quickly packed up and had a good breakfast. We knew that there was at least another 30 ks of sand before we got to Groenrivier.

Because it was morning and we all had some rest and some training the day before, it went a lot better in the sand. Riaan was very happy when we got to the hard stuff again. This was only temporary as there was some more soft sandy patches ahead.

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Eventually we got to the mystical Groenrivier, which was really just a lighthouse, a lagoon beach with very little to be enthusiastic about.

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From Groenrivier we turned inland towards Kotzesrus where we got the store owner to open and sell us some cooldrinks.

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From Kotzesrus, we went via Lepelsfontein (Spoon Fountain) on a very nice gravel stretch back to Lutzville. At Lutzville we split into two groups. I was in the group of three bikes that went back towards the coast. We made our way all along the spoorpad to Velddrif and back to Cape Town along the R27.

Thanks to Frans for the backup, camp stuff, water etc. Thanks to the buddies for the ride.
 
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