MRK Miller
Pack Dog
In 2019, may we all ride under the umbrella of wisdom and love, granted to us by the one and only living God of all creation, so that we may be witness to others of His greatness and glory. Let us enjoy the best of His creation, on the most remote roads, because He brought adventure riding on our way, so we can share those places, with those not able to reach them
My wife and kids surprised me with a new helmet
We also managed to do some riding aroud Marakele and the road to Doornpoort dam. Around marakele was the hole family.
We trailored the bikes up to Abba game lodge which we used as base camp, and our camp for x-mas.
There was a lot of sand and Monica struggled. Cannot really blame her as the tires on her bike are close to slick, and there was just not enough time to change them. Well recon if i really wanted to it could have been possible, since i just got some pretty second hand tires the week before, from a fellow klr rider. But she managed really well although the going was very slow. Meant we could see more then. We started with Rankins pass, and proceeded to Jan Trichards pass
Some art in the sand from Eben after he found a can with a girls name that is in is school
The previous day Rikus and myself went into town for some much needed stuff we forgot at home. Extention, plugs, Lights and so forth and so forth. We filled up our bikes with petrol. So on the road Monica informed me she had gone onto reserve. So some fuel was taken from my bike 2L and Rikus bike 2L. We though 4L would be anough, but it was not to be. So after the break we ventured on to Rankins pass
I forgot to mention, Eben was riding pillion with his boet, and Anika was on my back
Anika and myself
Some awesome scenery
We passed the "swaers hoek gelofte terein" , with not much going on there
On Jan Trichards pass
And down the other side
The two Boeties
The choices of life. Which road to take.But luckily, We were pre-planned and Bakkers pass it was
Those mountains make such a excellent background
The road here was more rocky
We saw some rhino in the bush and stopped for a break hoping they would come more into the open for a pic but no luck.
The shade and the cool drinks were welcome though as it was really starting to heat up now from the early morning start
And onward we venture, in search of the vulture feeding area, which shows on base camp but no where to be found. We did how ever pass a adv bikers camp, which could serve as a next camp for a get together perhaps
After we passed a abandoned carola on the road with the words "car broken please help on the window, we stopped for another pic at this tree overhang.
A little further on the tour bus with the unfortunate couple of the carola passed us and the driver inquired how far the car still was. Information exchanged and we moved on
And suddenly bakker pass was upon us. Always a awesome sight going down. You can see for miles and miles on a clear day like today
We get to the bottom where we hit tar, just after the checkpoint. Here we need to go right to do the northen border of marakele with which i am not familiar with. But it also pretty late already and every one is looking for a place to eat. According to my calculation we should have been passed the northen part on the tar road to the goat farm for lunch, but with Monica batteling the sand we are pretty far behind sceduel. How do they say. We go as fast as the slowest person. We did bring lots to drink, but not much to eat. So the question too all, do we go right as planned, or left as a shortcut back home. After informing Monica the short way i know has really lots of sand, the other how ever i do not know.Not known for backing out of a challenge, she shows to the right. It is 11h00 so not that late. So of we go again. We find the road with more gravel and a hard under patch and less sand, so the going is better. Suddenly Monica"s arm shoots out to the right and we pull over. Ellies in the bush, but no way to get a good shot with the cell phone camera's. Rikus had passed them and is waiting in front. We see plenty other game, warthog antelope, but sadly no giraffe. So we press on where we find the next turn of to the right again. here is a bit more sand, and we slow down again. The sun is really beating us by now, and we stop often for shade, to get out of the heavy jackets and cool down. Monica desides to ride without the jacket since the going is so slow any way. I also think of doing it, but since i do a fast stint every now and then for phodies i decide to keep my jacket on. At one stage Rikus rides ahead and suddenly comes to a stop and puts his arm in the air. I am fast enough and shut the bike of to coast in. Another ellie, and nice bull, in all his glory. And as is with teenage girls i hear Anika starting to giggle, and the question comes to me. does it not hert him when he bumps it against rocks or tree stumps, or branches. So my simple reply. :dry: 'i don't know, mine does not go that low, and i wear pants. Then the giggle breaks into laughter, and i say nothing further :blush:
We head off again after the pic's and hit a tweespoor, where we get some folks coming from the front, bmw, africa twin, and Eben reckons he saw a klr. I battle cross the middle trying to get to my side of the track. After that we get nice piece of road again going north. After a last stop and last drinks consumed as the gps reckons it is just 8km to the tar, which is actually as the crow flies, and turned out to be another 18km before we get the check point and the tar road
We go through the checkpoint and take a break, where Monica puts back on the jacket. On the tar road she makes up for the slow pace in the sand. Rikus was starting to feel not so well. He skipped breakfast and the empty tummy was cramping, calling out for something to be filled with. The clouds were gathering in the east. We catch up to Monica where she is standing on the side of the road again. Out of fuel. She though reserve would take her to Vaal water which was our destination now, since i know there is a spar and a nice little restaurant. So i take a litre of fuel from the two bikes and into Monica's bike the fuel goes. just before we reach Vaalwater i Rikus pulling of and think to myself, he must be really sick now, and i make a u-turn. As i am about to rush of to him i see him coming again. It was Eben falling asleep on the back and Rikus moved him to the front of him. We reach Vaalwater where Monica is waiting. Rikus misses the turn of but returns promptly. The spar and restaurant is closed, so of to the fuel station caffy, where we buy pies, just to find the are not well. so cool drinks for all, and ice cream. While gathering ourselves on the nice green grass within the complex the thunder reviles the steady approach of rain. No sooner it starts to come down, and we retreat to the bikes, where we go and park at the fueling station under the roof, while filling up the bikes, Filled up and ready to go we catch a slight break in the rain and make a dash for it. One could also see through the rain to the other side so i knew it would not last long. We make it to the goat farm where we order stuff to eat, all made from goat milk. Not everyone is comfy with the idea so lots of left over to take home. We also get a plate with taste samples of different cheeses. from there we head home, passing through a few more rain storms here and there. Then you dry then you wet. Till we make it back to camp
My wife and kids surprised me with a new helmet
We also managed to do some riding aroud Marakele and the road to Doornpoort dam. Around marakele was the hole family.
We trailored the bikes up to Abba game lodge which we used as base camp, and our camp for x-mas.
There was a lot of sand and Monica struggled. Cannot really blame her as the tires on her bike are close to slick, and there was just not enough time to change them. Well recon if i really wanted to it could have been possible, since i just got some pretty second hand tires the week before, from a fellow klr rider. But she managed really well although the going was very slow. Meant we could see more then. We started with Rankins pass, and proceeded to Jan Trichards pass
Some art in the sand from Eben after he found a can with a girls name that is in is school
The previous day Rikus and myself went into town for some much needed stuff we forgot at home. Extention, plugs, Lights and so forth and so forth. We filled up our bikes with petrol. So on the road Monica informed me she had gone onto reserve. So some fuel was taken from my bike 2L and Rikus bike 2L. We though 4L would be anough, but it was not to be. So after the break we ventured on to Rankins pass
I forgot to mention, Eben was riding pillion with his boet, and Anika was on my back
Anika and myself
Some awesome scenery
We passed the "swaers hoek gelofte terein" , with not much going on there
On Jan Trichards pass
And down the other side
The two Boeties
The choices of life. Which road to take.But luckily, We were pre-planned and Bakkers pass it was
Those mountains make such a excellent background
The road here was more rocky
We saw some rhino in the bush and stopped for a break hoping they would come more into the open for a pic but no luck.
The shade and the cool drinks were welcome though as it was really starting to heat up now from the early morning start
And onward we venture, in search of the vulture feeding area, which shows on base camp but no where to be found. We did how ever pass a adv bikers camp, which could serve as a next camp for a get together perhaps
After we passed a abandoned carola on the road with the words "car broken please help on the window, we stopped for another pic at this tree overhang.
A little further on the tour bus with the unfortunate couple of the carola passed us and the driver inquired how far the car still was. Information exchanged and we moved on
And suddenly bakker pass was upon us. Always a awesome sight going down. You can see for miles and miles on a clear day like today
We get to the bottom where we hit tar, just after the checkpoint. Here we need to go right to do the northen border of marakele with which i am not familiar with. But it also pretty late already and every one is looking for a place to eat. According to my calculation we should have been passed the northen part on the tar road to the goat farm for lunch, but with Monica batteling the sand we are pretty far behind sceduel. How do they say. We go as fast as the slowest person. We did bring lots to drink, but not much to eat. So the question too all, do we go right as planned, or left as a shortcut back home. After informing Monica the short way i know has really lots of sand, the other how ever i do not know.Not known for backing out of a challenge, she shows to the right. It is 11h00 so not that late. So of we go again. We find the road with more gravel and a hard under patch and less sand, so the going is better. Suddenly Monica"s arm shoots out to the right and we pull over. Ellies in the bush, but no way to get a good shot with the cell phone camera's. Rikus had passed them and is waiting in front. We see plenty other game, warthog antelope, but sadly no giraffe. So we press on where we find the next turn of to the right again. here is a bit more sand, and we slow down again. The sun is really beating us by now, and we stop often for shade, to get out of the heavy jackets and cool down. Monica desides to ride without the jacket since the going is so slow any way. I also think of doing it, but since i do a fast stint every now and then for phodies i decide to keep my jacket on. At one stage Rikus rides ahead and suddenly comes to a stop and puts his arm in the air. I am fast enough and shut the bike of to coast in. Another ellie, and nice bull, in all his glory. And as is with teenage girls i hear Anika starting to giggle, and the question comes to me. does it not hert him when he bumps it against rocks or tree stumps, or branches. So my simple reply. :dry: 'i don't know, mine does not go that low, and i wear pants. Then the giggle breaks into laughter, and i say nothing further :blush:
We head off again after the pic's and hit a tweespoor, where we get some folks coming from the front, bmw, africa twin, and Eben reckons he saw a klr. I battle cross the middle trying to get to my side of the track. After that we get nice piece of road again going north. After a last stop and last drinks consumed as the gps reckons it is just 8km to the tar, which is actually as the crow flies, and turned out to be another 18km before we get the check point and the tar road
We go through the checkpoint and take a break, where Monica puts back on the jacket. On the tar road she makes up for the slow pace in the sand. Rikus was starting to feel not so well. He skipped breakfast and the empty tummy was cramping, calling out for something to be filled with. The clouds were gathering in the east. We catch up to Monica where she is standing on the side of the road again. Out of fuel. She though reserve would take her to Vaal water which was our destination now, since i know there is a spar and a nice little restaurant. So i take a litre of fuel from the two bikes and into Monica's bike the fuel goes. just before we reach Vaalwater i Rikus pulling of and think to myself, he must be really sick now, and i make a u-turn. As i am about to rush of to him i see him coming again. It was Eben falling asleep on the back and Rikus moved him to the front of him. We reach Vaalwater where Monica is waiting. Rikus misses the turn of but returns promptly. The spar and restaurant is closed, so of to the fuel station caffy, where we buy pies, just to find the are not well. so cool drinks for all, and ice cream. While gathering ourselves on the nice green grass within the complex the thunder reviles the steady approach of rain. No sooner it starts to come down, and we retreat to the bikes, where we go and park at the fueling station under the roof, while filling up the bikes, Filled up and ready to go we catch a slight break in the rain and make a dash for it. One could also see through the rain to the other side so i knew it would not last long. We make it to the goat farm where we order stuff to eat, all made from goat milk. Not everyone is comfy with the idea so lots of left over to take home. We also get a plate with taste samples of different cheeses. from there we head home, passing through a few more rain storms here and there. Then you dry then you wet. Till we make it back to camp
