Doringboom
Race Dog
(10/09/2007: If you are unable to see the photos, the reason is because the photo hosting website [Filehigh.com] gave notice that they are shutting down. Sorry.)
Hallo everybody.
Until yesterday I have for quite some time wanted to explore some of the dirt roads that lead to Loskopdam from Cullinan. Yesterday was D-day and lady friend Alet and I saddled up the Tiger for the journey beyond the Gauteng smoke curtain. At 07:20 we headed out east from Pretoria along Zambezi Road and continued in the direction of Cullinan. Herewith our short story and some pictures we took:
I wonder if the road works on the Pretoria â?? Cullinan road will ever come to an end!
We stopped at the derelict structures that previously were Cullinan Station. The station building housed a nice restaurant until some time ago, but that is also gone now.
Cullinanâ??s own Big Hole, the result of the worldâ??s thirst for the glittering stones. (The big-mouth KTM riders have yet to try out this quarry!)
The Cullinan diamond mine skyline, deeper and deeper still!
The superbike crowd was, as always on a Sunday, in good support at the breakfast venues in Cullinan. We also did our thing at the Wimpy.
From Cullinan we continued eastwards to Bronkhorstspruit. North of Bronkhorstspruit we took a dirt road shortcut to get to the Bronkhorstspruit â?? Verena tar road (R25), which we then took northwards in the direction of Verena.
After 13 km on the R25, we turned east on the road through Trichardtspoort (â??Trichardtâ??s gorgeâ?) and along and over the Wilge River.
Some of the irrigation activities close to the Wilge River, in sharp contrast to the dull and dry veld.
We stopped a few times to enjoy the views, especially of the mountain range (the Gouwsberge according to a map I had a look at beforehand) parallel to the south of the road. (Maybe I must also place this picture at the mug shots department!)
Just before another stop, at the Hertzog family graveyard, Alet got a wet bottom from the spilled contents of our water bottle inside the backpack that was strapped onto the carrier.
Here, where we joined the Witbank â?? Groblersdal tar road, is the graveyard with the graves of, among others, General JBM Hertzog and Albert Hertzog. Some of the older forum members will know that they were SA politicians from the previous millennium.
The graves of General JBM Hertzog and his wife.
The imposing gate of the graveyard.
After 5 km on the tar road towards Groblersdal, we turned eastwards again on a dirt road that later goes along a stretch of the northern boundary fence of the Loskopdam Nature Reserve. Here we were also very fortunate to encounter almost no traffic and no dust clouds to ride through.
Just before we got to the Dennilton tar road, we passed through a peaceful rural settlement or two, with some stray donkeys and people with friendly waves.
We arrived at Loskopdam at last. We stopped at the dam wall. Things look somewhat untidy here. We walked across the open section of the dam wall.
The dam wall spews out some water at the bottom to ensure that the river downstream still, at least, looks like a river.
Yes, the recent news reports about the polluted state of the water in the dam are no joke. We also saw the dead fish!
We arrived at the Loskopdam holiday resort over lunch time. For us to have something to eat at the resort restaurant, we were handed a free day entry permit on condition that we do not ride the bike inside the resort area, but park it on an under-roof parking bay just behind the reception area. We somewhat explored the camping sites and other facilities on foot after lunch.
We left the Loskopdam holiday resort at 14:15. The journey back home was the infamous graveyard shift, the one we all know so well. Approximately 35km from Loskopdam, on the road (N11) to Middelburg, we turned off to the Botshabelo cultural village and mission station. We rode the 3 km dirt road to the second boom gate, where we made a U-turn. To go further it will cost you R25 per person. We decided to leave a visit here for another day. We rode back to Pretoria on tar through the towns of Middelburg, Witbank and Bronkhorstspruit, avoiding the N4 and its toll gates as far as possible. Total distance for the day: 371 km.
Thanks to all for watching and reading. Until next time, over and out!
Doringboom
Hallo everybody.
Until yesterday I have for quite some time wanted to explore some of the dirt roads that lead to Loskopdam from Cullinan. Yesterday was D-day and lady friend Alet and I saddled up the Tiger for the journey beyond the Gauteng smoke curtain. At 07:20 we headed out east from Pretoria along Zambezi Road and continued in the direction of Cullinan. Herewith our short story and some pictures we took:
I wonder if the road works on the Pretoria â?? Cullinan road will ever come to an end!
We stopped at the derelict structures that previously were Cullinan Station. The station building housed a nice restaurant until some time ago, but that is also gone now.
Cullinanâ??s own Big Hole, the result of the worldâ??s thirst for the glittering stones. (The big-mouth KTM riders have yet to try out this quarry!)
The Cullinan diamond mine skyline, deeper and deeper still!
The superbike crowd was, as always on a Sunday, in good support at the breakfast venues in Cullinan. We also did our thing at the Wimpy.
From Cullinan we continued eastwards to Bronkhorstspruit. North of Bronkhorstspruit we took a dirt road shortcut to get to the Bronkhorstspruit â?? Verena tar road (R25), which we then took northwards in the direction of Verena.
After 13 km on the R25, we turned east on the road through Trichardtspoort (â??Trichardtâ??s gorgeâ?) and along and over the Wilge River.
Some of the irrigation activities close to the Wilge River, in sharp contrast to the dull and dry veld.
We stopped a few times to enjoy the views, especially of the mountain range (the Gouwsberge according to a map I had a look at beforehand) parallel to the south of the road. (Maybe I must also place this picture at the mug shots department!)
Just before another stop, at the Hertzog family graveyard, Alet got a wet bottom from the spilled contents of our water bottle inside the backpack that was strapped onto the carrier.
Here, where we joined the Witbank â?? Groblersdal tar road, is the graveyard with the graves of, among others, General JBM Hertzog and Albert Hertzog. Some of the older forum members will know that they were SA politicians from the previous millennium.
The graves of General JBM Hertzog and his wife.
The imposing gate of the graveyard.
After 5 km on the tar road towards Groblersdal, we turned eastwards again on a dirt road that later goes along a stretch of the northern boundary fence of the Loskopdam Nature Reserve. Here we were also very fortunate to encounter almost no traffic and no dust clouds to ride through.
Just before we got to the Dennilton tar road, we passed through a peaceful rural settlement or two, with some stray donkeys and people with friendly waves.
We arrived at Loskopdam at last. We stopped at the dam wall. Things look somewhat untidy here. We walked across the open section of the dam wall.
The dam wall spews out some water at the bottom to ensure that the river downstream still, at least, looks like a river.
Yes, the recent news reports about the polluted state of the water in the dam are no joke. We also saw the dead fish!
We arrived at the Loskopdam holiday resort over lunch time. For us to have something to eat at the resort restaurant, we were handed a free day entry permit on condition that we do not ride the bike inside the resort area, but park it on an under-roof parking bay just behind the reception area. We somewhat explored the camping sites and other facilities on foot after lunch.
We left the Loskopdam holiday resort at 14:15. The journey back home was the infamous graveyard shift, the one we all know so well. Approximately 35km from Loskopdam, on the road (N11) to Middelburg, we turned off to the Botshabelo cultural village and mission station. We rode the 3 km dirt road to the second boom gate, where we made a U-turn. To go further it will cost you R25 per person. We decided to leave a visit here for another day. We rode back to Pretoria on tar through the towns of Middelburg, Witbank and Bronkhorstspruit, avoiding the N4 and its toll gates as far as possible. Total distance for the day: 371 km.
Thanks to all for watching and reading. Until next time, over and out!
Doringboom
