Flower Power

I read a ride report of Bus recently and decided I have to look into my own area with another eye. I could not think of a better companion than my comrade in arms, Tok-tokkie. So on Sunday, just after 9, he pulled in and we had our coffee, a piece of toast and were on our way. Unfortunately the sun did not play along at first, so we took the time to spend time to attend to other important business.

We paid a visit to Salma, our baby Black Eagle. Tok-tokkie is a devoted fan of the parents and has a special bond with our magnificent pair. Like the good actress she is, she played dead.

Salma



After that we left for Saldanha. Our plan was to go from Saldanha to Jacobsbaai, then to Trekoskraal, Tietiesbaai, Paternoster and finally to Britannia Baai. Our aim was to go as close as possible to the sea. We wanted to see if we can go all the way, even if we had to beg for the right to cross certain portions. We committed ourselves to the law, with the right to our own interpretation thereof. We also don’t want to disturb nature.

Our first view of the sea at Tabakbaai.



There were a lot of small roads and we were spoiled for choice. I showed Tok-tokkie all my dive spots and we decided to test them out as soon as the season opens again.







We paid out dues to Jacobsbaai’s latest tourist attraction and had a beer in one of the local restaurants.



After that we left we looked for the road to Trekos. We knew that there were none, this the first challenge of the day. We met a very friendly farmer with a very sour face who basically told us to fark off. We have to go to Vredenburg and then back to the sea. We consulted a local who told us there is a way, but he does not know where. So we consulted the friendly people of Mapsource. Apparently there is highway available. That suited us and we followed the road. Very nice road, I must say. There was a little voice in the back of my head, but I just opened the throttle.

At one point we came to this interesting road.



The only problem was that we were there.




So we consulted Mapsource again and told them about the locked gate. They told us to make a plan.



The reward was fabulous.





From there is was a nice, challenging track to Trekos with sand, high dunes, but generally extremely nice.





All of a sudden the suburbs of Trekos appeared on the scene.



Like the West Coast people say, die see is befok.





Nice trails.



Beautiful flowers all over the place.











From Trekos we had to find a way to Tietiesbaai. From what I heard, there is not a way. At times it was more than difficult.



There were very nice patches also.







Got stuck more than once.



At times it seemed like there is no way forward. At this point  we exhausted from pushing, pulling, dragging and goose walking our bikes.

In the end we decided that we will have to turn inland or risk damaging the vegetation and also stand the chance of getting totally stuck.

So we turned inland, over a farmer’s land. I was very uneasy, have the stupid doos at Jacobsbaai in mind. Luckily everything went well and we found our way to the main road and Paternoster. At the entrance to Tietiesbaai we were told that bikes are not allowed. We very lucky to persuade the guy to let us through. Apparently he is also a biker.

Die Tiet van Tietiesbaai.



Tok-tokkie at Colombine.




At Paternoster we had to stop to pay our dues.



Everybody knows this bar.



From there on we followed the road to Britannia Baai.



Got lost once or twice, but finally made it.



We really had great fun and enjoyed even the very taxing stretches. There is no way from Trekos to Tietiesbaai, according to the locals in the pub at Paternoster. Apparently there is a small private development in between Tietiesbaai and Trekos and the people don’t allow any access to the area.

Now that we know that, we can set or sights on the next challenge.

Excellent man! Like that monster tyres on miskruier se bike.

Nice

Great time of year on the west coast

Looks like an awesome trip  :thumleft:

Beautiful area, have a friend working there in Cape Columbine Lighthouse. Stayed at Swartriet, next to Jacobsbaai when I visited the West coast.

Lekker man!!!

Thats exactly what I had in mind for that last trip...

We couldnt find the road to Trekos though, but we werent really trying hard enough. Also we didnt have a GPS...

Gonna have to revisit...

:thumleft:

You found the road I had been looking for a very long time.  :thumleft:

Very nice! :thumleft:

Baie nice.  :thumleft:  Eendag as ek groot is wil ek daar gaan ry.

Eating my heart out!  :angry5:

Wish stellenbosch bikes didnt keep my baby over the weekend!  Ai.

Dit lyk awesome!

Thanks for sharing dudes.

Very nice WS & TT. Isnt the West Coast just special!!!

I assume this is on the first dune after the Trekos beach. It use to be my playground. Way to many years ago


You were able to go from Trekos to Tieties, but the private devolopment is obviously the show stopper.


Just beautiful!!

HEY!!! coool!

Julle is gelukkige bl1ksems om in so mooi area te woon!

Great stuff. Nou is ek so flippin lus vir n vakansie by die see!  :thumleft:

En jy wag vir...?

I wrote this before seeing WS's report so it is largely repetition
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

White Stripes took me on a trip around some of the Vredenberg peninsula coast.  The idea was to stay as close to the beach as possible but we were defeated by some private land so had to go inland at times.


Here is WS taking a photo of a Black Eagle chick in a quarry.  Look how close it is to town.  This was the start of the ride from Langebaan but we skipped round to Saldanha for the real bit.  ( Mapsource spells it both Saldana & Saldanha.  It is named after a Portugese admiral who never went there.  He used Table Bay & that was originally named after him but the Dutch changed the name to Table Bay & transferred his name to what is now Saldanha Bay.)
At the tip is a military base but we could not get in, WS did the discussion so I don’t know what the full storey was. 


So this is the initial approach to the coast at Tabaksbaai.  WS can just be seen down the track.


And along the bay – see him there ahead?  Nice track.


Further on along the coast.    Look at that lovely track.


And some flowers – bit cloudy still so the colour is somewhat subdued.




We get to Jakobsbaai.  It is brand spanky new – not my sort of place; I think that buildings make a place look a lot worse than the original (unspoiled) landscape. The environment was better the way it was.


Check that huge structure at the point.


It is the chief attraction nowadays.  A barge was being towed from China to Europe.  On it are 10 barges to be used on the rivers & canals of Europe.  The tow cable broke during rough seas & they could not catch it before it reached the coast.  I was in France last year & took this photo of a barge on the Rhone river at Avignon




We could not get through to Trekoskraal along the coast so had to go inland & back to the coast on this track to get to Trekoskraal.  Look how lovely & green the veld is at this time of the year.


Now we are into Trekoskraal.  Lovely sandy tracks.








You can just see WS in the last photo.


We had been riding alongside the bay behind.

Drop down to where WS is at the bottom there.  See the coast in the background?  We want to ride over to there.


More flowers.  The sun is now shining and they are open & bright.




This is the Trekoskraal beach resort.  Those bits & pieces are some of the leftovers from the Christmas holiday camp that appears here.  I so appreciate this place as it represents the recent past tradition of farmer’s seaside holidays.  That is being replaced by that soulless development at Jakobsbaai &, I recently was sad to read, such a development is planned for Trekoskraal also.  This is a piece of Afrikaans social history that is about to be obliterated.


Quite a bit further along and we were up here.


But the tracks ended here.  In Paternoster we found out that the next piece of land is privately owned and you cannot get through it to get to Tietiesbaai.


So we had to backtrack a bit until we could find a track inland to the road.


We went up to Paternoster & down to Tietiesbaai.  This is the hill there.  WS says the bay gets its name from that – the nipple is a naturally occurring granite boulder.  Well Tietie is a family name in the area so I am not sure about that.


But I zoomed in on the nipple in the picture when writing this and now see that what I thought was the nipple on the hill is in fact the whole breast and nipple.  Checking in maps4Africa they label it as the Tiet van Tietiesbaai.  Looks amply correct.


Here it is from the other side with the bay.  A bit flat chested so if tietie is the diminutive
of tiet it could also be right. T.V Bulpin in ‘Discovering South Africa’ says:

..rocky little bay named Titties or Titus Bay , from a fisherman who had the misfortune of being drowned there.

Click to expand...

I don’t think that could be right; if it was a drowned fisherman then he must have been one of the Tietie family – a well established family in these parts.


Here is Cape Columbine lighthouse.  Bikes are not allowed here but WS used his charm to gain us access to the Tietiesbaai area.


This house – Blikkie – is something I am interested in.  I have a project on the go documenting corrugated iron & how it has contributed to this country.  Whenever I find a blikhuis like this I photograph it & record the co-ordinates.  Anything made of corrugated iron is of interest to me.  Please let me know of anything you see.


In the Panty Bar in Paternoster where we had a beer WS found out about this nice road to Brittania Bay along the coast.




It was a great day – many thanks Gerhard.  It was dark by the time we got back to Langebaan so I slept over at the WS house.

Enjoyed that RR  :thumleft:
Thanks for sharing

Way COOL!

Now that's leka riding!

Ja you capies are spoilt with choice  :thumleft: