Day3:
P.E. on the N2 to Grahams Town. From there past Rini on the R67, then (just before Fort Brown) off into and through the DubbelDrift game reserve onto the R345 through Alice and into Hogsback.
The morning started off a little slow, but we had another good breakfast that Vicky cooked up.
We packed, got Sauerkraut out of the room and we were off.
Our plans got a little sidestepped as we wanted to go on the R102 and join the N2 again later.
Turned out that this road was closed. So after 30 minutes of detour we were still looking at informal settlements and industrial areas.
When we finally got to stretch the boxer's legs on the N2 the road opened up to a couple of valleys and hills.
This was the 1st pass where we pulled over for a little rest:

This type of scenery was quite common up to Grahamstown:

At Grahamstown we got coffee and cake at 'The Mad Hatter'.
We looked like locals for a couple of people as the registration numbers for Grahamstown used to be CF before they changed to the current EC-at-the-end numbers. (Oostenberg ran out of space on CFR and adopted CF).
There was an old Omie (Looked 90+) walking past us with the scafolding walker frame - he waited in the Uno next to where Vicky was sitting - as we got ready to leave he started to chat to us. With nostalgic stars in his eyes he was talking about the Harley with a side car that he had in the 40's and 50's and how he and his wife traveled the country with it.
Just for a moment he was not 90, he didn't need his walking frame and he still haven't lost his wife.
Biking in general brings people together and breaks down barriers. How many times have we gotten into interesting conversations with people either wanting to know more about it, or spontaneously sharing about their own two wheel experiences.
This was at the mad hatter:


We fought off the students and long weekend crowd at the BP (the one that has just been in the news), filled up, got some supplies and off we went.
We took the R67 past Rini - different types of mountain scenery.

At one of the corners was this - the photo is a little 'skeef' but you get the idea. You DO NOT want to not make this turn...

Vicky is one of those people that can look at a scene and pick out a frame for a photo that will just work.
She is also intrigued by different textures (of which there were LOTS on our journey). This was at the same spot:

She also loves playing with black and white.
Same spot, different angle :

At the bottom of the pass we continued for a bit and then we turned right just before Fort Brown and came to this:

No doubt - we took the left road...
About 4 k's on we got to this:

Turned out that our choice to go right was right (or something like that)
Here we knew that it was an 'official' wild reserve:

Amazing views, very cool scenery and a nice road that's not too technical, but with two up you want to keep it steady in 2nd and 3rd. It isn't fun for the pillion when you accelerate and decelerate all the time.
Notice also the winding road that snakes over the mountains in the distance. Yep - that's where we where going ...

Came 'round a corner, got a little bit of sand and this picnic spot. We settled for some apples and a quick drink.
Funny thing was that in my ignorance I rode all the way to the table and back to the road in a wide turn, parked the bike and then (while walking back to the tables) I noticed that the ground was COVERED in these white kameeldorings...
Lucky they were all lying flat so that my tires didn't have to be...

Then, as we were leaving we came 'round a corner and found this:

*cue up some ominous music*
The Great Fish River
I was testing the water depth and decided to go for it (even though the water was murky and I couldn't see what was going on on the ground). This was the only time in the whole trip where I felt uneasy. But I went for it...

In the middle it got so shallow that the bike climbed all the way out of the water again.
Then it started to 'dive in'. I could feel rocks and potholes under the front wheel. It started going deeper in than before, but I just kept my eye on the other side, kept a steady pace and went for it. The boxer engine welled up (pushed out) water ahead of so much that it started streaming over the barrels on either side...
THAT was scary.
Stopping just on the upslope wasn't my brightest moment yet as the bike was dripping on the dry soil that became mud on the cement. So I had to fish tail out the other side a little, but I made it !
Would have been nice to have had this on the side we were coming from ...

Dubbeldrift complimentary bike wash - look how shiny it is !

Vicky was still on the other side (to take photos and to have at least one of us dry should I decide to go for an unscheduled swim...) She took off her boots, rolled up her pant legs and made her way over.

On the other side the road changed a little bit.
Lots more embedded stones/rocks, a couple of smallish ditches (trenches ?!), a couple of steep climbs over rocks, potholes, erosion cracks. The 'ups and downs' were also more intense. At some point we saw a dirt road winding out in front of us going alongside the back of a mountain. A little later we were on it feeling like we were on top of the world... To any side that we looked we were looking down on other mountains...
Photos does not show you what we saw.

The 'Great Fish River':

Mountain on mountain:
"Al lĂ?ÂȘ die berge nog so blou"

This be the R345 to Alice:

Potholes almost as big as a GS:


30 to 40 km's of this to Alice. Just as you think it is clearing up you get another lot of it.
We could do 20 - 30km/h on this piece of stretch - the scenery was cool and at least there were 'locals' that always (eagerly) returned our waves...
After what felt like an eternity we saw this. I think it is an eastern cape plot (along with the potholed roads) to keep speeds down. You have to stop at this sign, get you CSI kit out and dust it for evidence to see what it says...

17:00 peak traffic in Alice:

Some 'in-flight entertainment' on the way to Hogsback from Alice:

One of the local herds:

Our evening was spent by booking in to the backpackers and getting Pizza at Nina's - the BEST pizza I had in a long time with a very knowledgeable and friendly (also bike friendly) guy that runs it. If you are in Hogsback you owe it to yourself to go have a Pizza there.
Vicky pre-booked at the backpackers (Away with the fairies) so we managed to get a private room with it's own fireplace.
The rest of the evening was spent in a relaxed atmosphere with lots of reliving the day's events and scenery. Just in general enjoying each other's company in the light of the fire. The perfect end to a perfect Wild Dog Day...
