LanC
Pack Dog
About a month back we decided we to plan a ride for the first weekend of December. First thoughts were to camp somewhere in the Tankwa but fear baking in the summer heat lead us to decide the destination had to include enough water for a swim at the end of the ride. I've always had Bosch Luys Kloof pass on my bucket list and so we would end up at the Gamkaskloof Dam Cottages.
We left Malmesbury at 06H15 and went via Riebeek Kasteel toward Ceres. There were some really strong cross-winds around Tulbagh and I'm not sure if it the wind or the new knobblies which almost doubled my fuel consumption when filling up at Ceres.
Leaving Ceres we turn left at the Matroosberg turn of and tried out the Bo-Swaarmoed Pass instead of the classic Theronsberg Pass.
The long straight R356 was a good warmup for the dirt to come. We had bit of a pit stop in the dry Tankwa River bed with something to drink and quick snack. When it was time to leave, Hoffie found his African Twin would not start so it was push start time.
At the Ouberg lookout there some folk preparing a spit braai, we were a little to early to join them so we pushed on through to Sutherland.
We reached Sutherland at 12:15 and found we the fuel pumps the Shell station were not working because of load shedding. We grabbed some lunch at the Karoo Kombuis where I think they were cooking on gas and the power came on at 1PM.
Hoffie's bike was not sounding healthy now and he figured that as well as not being connected to the starter any more the battery was not charging. I reached in my topbox for some tools and was horrified to find everything floating in litchi juice. What was I thinking packing a one litre box of liquifruit. I'd even put it inside two plastic bags to in case it leaked but did not help at all. Hoffie's negative terminal was not making good contact and once tightened all was good in the starting and charging department.
We left Sutherlandand and headed down Komsberg and Smoushoogte pass.
The Moordenaars Karoo is another road I've always wanted to explore. It follows the river down to Lainsburg crossing it many times which could be very interesting in winter if many water crossings are your thing.
There were many buck next to the road throughout the day and its amazing how most of them are able to jump right through the gaps in the wire fences. The two bokkies in the picture below were an exception and they were running along parallel to the fence and road. The first one attempted a to jump over the fence and its foot clipped the top of the fence resulting in a somersault then off it ran. The second one was not so lucky and attempted to jump throught the fence at a really bad angle. The result was a cloud of dust, a fence pole being ripped out the ground and the fence went down.
Other animals we came aross in the Moordenaars Karoo were cows and baboons.
This was the most water in a river we've seen so far.
We arrived at Lainsburg at 15:45 and topped up the fuel again. The plan was to go to the butcher at the OK shop to get meat for the braai. Unfortunately I did not plan for the opening hours and it had closed at 1PM on Saturday. None of the petrol station shops sold meat. We ended up finding a dodgy chinese trading cafe shop which had meat. Now the dodgy part was a small pack of boerewors was going for R7, the large pack was R14 and a braai-pack of chicken pieces R12. All very much too good to be true as we would find out later when it was time to eat.
Rooinek and Witnekke Pass
Then the long straight gravel road running along the Klein Swartberg Mountains
One last pit stop before the final 30km of the trip
It's quite a tight road down Bosch Luys Kloof pass with no room for overshooting a corner. The views down the kloof were amazing it's a real pleasure taking this one slower.
Once in the valley it gets quite bushy and you have to keep your eye out for kudu and other small buck jumping across the road
Finally arrived at the entrance to the Dam just before 6PM
It was still 33 degrees when we got to the cottage and quick swim in the dam was refreshing. There are outside showers for further cooling down and only baths inside the cottages. No electricity all gas and candle powered.
We started the fire which was going crazy in the wind so moved it up onto the veranda in the shelter of the wind. I washed out my sticky stop box and it dried very quickly in the warm evening breeze.
Full moon rising over the dam. The wors we bought was mostly edible but the chicken smelt like something that had been soaked in engine oil and the most I could handle was just one bite.
We left Malmesbury at 06H15 and went via Riebeek Kasteel toward Ceres. There were some really strong cross-winds around Tulbagh and I'm not sure if it the wind or the new knobblies which almost doubled my fuel consumption when filling up at Ceres.
Leaving Ceres we turn left at the Matroosberg turn of and tried out the Bo-Swaarmoed Pass instead of the classic Theronsberg Pass.
The long straight R356 was a good warmup for the dirt to come. We had bit of a pit stop in the dry Tankwa River bed with something to drink and quick snack. When it was time to leave, Hoffie found his African Twin would not start so it was push start time.
At the Ouberg lookout there some folk preparing a spit braai, we were a little to early to join them so we pushed on through to Sutherland.
We reached Sutherland at 12:15 and found we the fuel pumps the Shell station were not working because of load shedding. We grabbed some lunch at the Karoo Kombuis where I think they were cooking on gas and the power came on at 1PM.
Hoffie's bike was not sounding healthy now and he figured that as well as not being connected to the starter any more the battery was not charging. I reached in my topbox for some tools and was horrified to find everything floating in litchi juice. What was I thinking packing a one litre box of liquifruit. I'd even put it inside two plastic bags to in case it leaked but did not help at all. Hoffie's negative terminal was not making good contact and once tightened all was good in the starting and charging department.
We left Sutherlandand and headed down Komsberg and Smoushoogte pass.
The Moordenaars Karoo is another road I've always wanted to explore. It follows the river down to Lainsburg crossing it many times which could be very interesting in winter if many water crossings are your thing.
There were many buck next to the road throughout the day and its amazing how most of them are able to jump right through the gaps in the wire fences. The two bokkies in the picture below were an exception and they were running along parallel to the fence and road. The first one attempted a to jump over the fence and its foot clipped the top of the fence resulting in a somersault then off it ran. The second one was not so lucky and attempted to jump throught the fence at a really bad angle. The result was a cloud of dust, a fence pole being ripped out the ground and the fence went down.
Other animals we came aross in the Moordenaars Karoo were cows and baboons.
This was the most water in a river we've seen so far.
We arrived at Lainsburg at 15:45 and topped up the fuel again. The plan was to go to the butcher at the OK shop to get meat for the braai. Unfortunately I did not plan for the opening hours and it had closed at 1PM on Saturday. None of the petrol station shops sold meat. We ended up finding a dodgy chinese trading cafe shop which had meat. Now the dodgy part was a small pack of boerewors was going for R7, the large pack was R14 and a braai-pack of chicken pieces R12. All very much too good to be true as we would find out later when it was time to eat.
Rooinek and Witnekke Pass
Then the long straight gravel road running along the Klein Swartberg Mountains
One last pit stop before the final 30km of the trip
It's quite a tight road down Bosch Luys Kloof pass with no room for overshooting a corner. The views down the kloof were amazing it's a real pleasure taking this one slower.
Once in the valley it gets quite bushy and you have to keep your eye out for kudu and other small buck jumping across the road
Finally arrived at the entrance to the Dam just before 6PM
It was still 33 degrees when we got to the cottage and quick swim in the dam was refreshing. There are outside showers for further cooling down and only baths inside the cottages. No electricity all gas and candle powered.
We started the fire which was going crazy in the wind so moved it up onto the veranda in the shelter of the wind. I washed out my sticky stop box and it dried very quickly in the warm evening breeze.
Full moon rising over the dam. The wors we bought was mostly edible but the chicken smelt like something that had been soaked in engine oil and the most I could handle was just one bite.
