A four day easy Karoo cruise in December from Jeffreysbay with Philip (GSA), Wayne (Super Tenere), Jaco (Dakar) and me (Mario) on the lewensgevaarlike yellow warning sign F800GS. Many thanks for planning inputs from the dawgs!
The whole trip
Day 1 - 26 Dec 2011 - JBay to Prince Albert (350km)
Langkloof via tar and then a gravel loop via Uniondale.
The gravel loop after Haarlem:
Wayne joined us in Uniondale, having done 380km on tar from Somerset-East. We rode through Meiringspoort – I've ridden through there three times now and no pics yet! Enjoying the twisties I guess...
It was hot! 36 deg C.! We got to Prince Albert around 13:00 and hit the swimming pool...
Thunderstorm clouds rolled in around us and we decided to stay in the pool and not ride Swartberg pass.
The Swartberg Hotel looked like the garden of Eden – with hanepoot!
Very fancy with mosquito nets nogal!
Filling up the next morning in Prince Albert. A stern warning:
Day 2 – 27 Dec - Prince Albert to Sutherland
Prince Albert to Merweville, Rammelkop pass to Sutherland, ride Ou Berg pass down to Tanwakaroo, back to Sutherland.
Great Karoo dirt highway on the way to Merweville. Cruising at 100 – 120km with a bit of air time now and then. We filled up, the petrolstation was only open 8:00 to 10:00 on that day!
The church in Merweville
On the way to Rammelkop pass.
A dry river crossing between soetdorings. I always associate the smell of soetdorings with riding bikes in the veld!
A beautiful outlook from Rammelkop pass
The pass is quite easy to ride. Two really steep inclines have been paved. I guess if it rains you just won't make it up there!
It is worth opening all those gates! I guess there are 12 or so!
A korbeel house built out of stones.
At last! A bit of water... Wayne made the most of it.
And then I smelled the sea!
A big brackish dam on both sides of the road with lots of birds.
We saddled off at the B&B/selfcatering in Sutherland and bought the tjop and dop for the braai that evening. Wayne asked for beef and got the reply: Nee meneer, vir bees moet jy Boland toe gaan, hier is dit net skaap! We only bought 16 tjops for the 4 of us...
.
We found the Jupiter for lunch:
Best chips I've ever had!
Phillip does not like Harleys
It took some resolve to go and ride Ou Berg pass after that lunch, but boy, was it worth it! It is a 90km roundtrip from Sutherland. A nice curvy road to there and then – WOW – what a view!
The first few hairpins are really steep – gets you awake quickly! Thereafter it flattens out quite a bit, but still a very good ride!
The classic Ou Berg pass photos from halfway down:
At the bottom:
The temperature at the bottom was 6 degrees higher than at the top! 26 to 32C
The ride up was (as always I guess) a lot easier.
The church in Sutherland:
We did a quick trip to SALT – 18km outside Sutherland.
And then the highlight of the day! The braai. Wayne did a mean pap en sous! We ate like kings!
I hauled myself onto the bike with difficulty after the braai and joined Jurg's stargazing setup. On the way I saw an owl sitting on the main street...a very quiet town!! He has 5 telescopes set up in kraaltjies. A thunderstorm came up and clouds set in. We did see Jupiter + 4 moons, Venus, the globular cluster 27 Toucan and Andromeda.
Day 3 – 28 Dec - Sutherland to Ruitersbos
Sutherland to Laingsburg via Komsbergpas then south to Herbertdale with R327, then east with Haelkraalpad to the Ruiterbos area.
We rode through some Klein Roggeveld farm roads on the way to Laingsburg – more gates!
Koms Berg pass was a gentle meander.
Refuel at Laingsburg and then the magnificent Seweweekspoort on the way to Calitzdorp.
Lunch in Calitzdorp at the Dorpshuis – lots of Beemers!
We then rode the Rooibergpas.
And then the took the road to Herbertsdale. A nice surprise! It winds along behind the Outeniquas and then you ride through a valley to get to Herbertsdale. The vegetation changes quickly from Karoo to seaside forest and grass. We swung left before Herbertdale on the Haelkraalpad to the Outeniqua Moon farm.
Outeniqua Moon
A magnificent pool and a great view!
This is a Percheron mare who is about to foal.
We had a Moroccan lamb feast that night, prepared with great care by our host Christine. She even bought some beers for us – great service!
The next morning the foals had a bit of fun with us. They are really playful!
Christine is crazy about her horses and you could not wish for a better host.
Day 4 - 29 Dec - Back to Jeffreysbay
We rode through a nice gravel road filled with mountainbikers down to Klein-Brak, then joined the N2 to George. From George we rode some backroads on the way to Knysna.
From Knysna we rode through beautiful woods: seven passes (Old Knysna road), Kom se bos, Gouna, Diepwalle and the Prince Alfred pass to Langkloof.
This guy was meandering through the Prince Alfred pass on a old scrambler with his leather hat and camo clothing.
We said goodbye to Wayne at the Langkloof and then hot tailed it home.
Back in Jeffreys – 1487km later. A memorable trip in excellent company!!!
The whole trip
Day 1 - 26 Dec 2011 - JBay to Prince Albert (350km)
Langkloof via tar and then a gravel loop via Uniondale.
The gravel loop after Haarlem:
Wayne joined us in Uniondale, having done 380km on tar from Somerset-East. We rode through Meiringspoort – I've ridden through there three times now and no pics yet! Enjoying the twisties I guess...
It was hot! 36 deg C.! We got to Prince Albert around 13:00 and hit the swimming pool...
Thunderstorm clouds rolled in around us and we decided to stay in the pool and not ride Swartberg pass.
The Swartberg Hotel looked like the garden of Eden – with hanepoot!
Very fancy with mosquito nets nogal!
Filling up the next morning in Prince Albert. A stern warning:
Day 2 – 27 Dec - Prince Albert to Sutherland
Prince Albert to Merweville, Rammelkop pass to Sutherland, ride Ou Berg pass down to Tanwakaroo, back to Sutherland.
Great Karoo dirt highway on the way to Merweville. Cruising at 100 – 120km with a bit of air time now and then. We filled up, the petrolstation was only open 8:00 to 10:00 on that day!
The church in Merweville
On the way to Rammelkop pass.
A dry river crossing between soetdorings. I always associate the smell of soetdorings with riding bikes in the veld!
A beautiful outlook from Rammelkop pass
The pass is quite easy to ride. Two really steep inclines have been paved. I guess if it rains you just won't make it up there!
It is worth opening all those gates! I guess there are 12 or so!
A korbeel house built out of stones.
At last! A bit of water... Wayne made the most of it.
And then I smelled the sea!
A big brackish dam on both sides of the road with lots of birds.
We saddled off at the B&B/selfcatering in Sutherland and bought the tjop and dop for the braai that evening. Wayne asked for beef and got the reply: Nee meneer, vir bees moet jy Boland toe gaan, hier is dit net skaap! We only bought 16 tjops for the 4 of us...
.
We found the Jupiter for lunch:
Best chips I've ever had!
Phillip does not like Harleys
It took some resolve to go and ride Ou Berg pass after that lunch, but boy, was it worth it! It is a 90km roundtrip from Sutherland. A nice curvy road to there and then – WOW – what a view!
The first few hairpins are really steep – gets you awake quickly! Thereafter it flattens out quite a bit, but still a very good ride!
The classic Ou Berg pass photos from halfway down:
At the bottom:
The temperature at the bottom was 6 degrees higher than at the top! 26 to 32C
The ride up was (as always I guess) a lot easier.
The church in Sutherland:
We did a quick trip to SALT – 18km outside Sutherland.
And then the highlight of the day! The braai. Wayne did a mean pap en sous! We ate like kings!
I hauled myself onto the bike with difficulty after the braai and joined Jurg's stargazing setup. On the way I saw an owl sitting on the main street...a very quiet town!! He has 5 telescopes set up in kraaltjies. A thunderstorm came up and clouds set in. We did see Jupiter + 4 moons, Venus, the globular cluster 27 Toucan and Andromeda.
Day 3 – 28 Dec - Sutherland to Ruitersbos
Sutherland to Laingsburg via Komsbergpas then south to Herbertdale with R327, then east with Haelkraalpad to the Ruiterbos area.
We rode through some Klein Roggeveld farm roads on the way to Laingsburg – more gates!
Koms Berg pass was a gentle meander.
Refuel at Laingsburg and then the magnificent Seweweekspoort on the way to Calitzdorp.
Lunch in Calitzdorp at the Dorpshuis – lots of Beemers!
We then rode the Rooibergpas.
And then the took the road to Herbertsdale. A nice surprise! It winds along behind the Outeniquas and then you ride through a valley to get to Herbertsdale. The vegetation changes quickly from Karoo to seaside forest and grass. We swung left before Herbertdale on the Haelkraalpad to the Outeniqua Moon farm.
Outeniqua Moon
A magnificent pool and a great view!
This is a Percheron mare who is about to foal.
We had a Moroccan lamb feast that night, prepared with great care by our host Christine. She even bought some beers for us – great service!
The next morning the foals had a bit of fun with us. They are really playful!
Christine is crazy about her horses and you could not wish for a better host.
Day 4 - 29 Dec - Back to Jeffreysbay
We rode through a nice gravel road filled with mountainbikers down to Klein-Brak, then joined the N2 to George. From George we rode some backroads on the way to Knysna.
From Knysna we rode through beautiful woods: seven passes (Old Knysna road), Kom se bos, Gouna, Diepwalle and the Prince Alfred pass to Langkloof.
This guy was meandering through the Prince Alfred pass on a old scrambler with his leather hat and camo clothing.
We said goodbye to Wayne at the Langkloof and then hot tailed it home.
Back in Jeffreys – 1487km later. A memorable trip in excellent company!!!
