D
dustsucker
Guest
Let me start of first by telling you how this all came together. The woman approached us in November last(2007) year cause their ouma was turning 80 in Feb2008 and they felt we all had to attend the party in Gauties. The reasoning was that ouma might not live that long and our children will miss out on meeting their oumagrootjie foreva...pshycological ammo. Photie of Swaerrie left,ouma middle and moa. (Pssst: frankly i believe ouma is as tough as....well...Chuck Norris and is still going to outlive all of us)
Swaerrie reminds me alot about David(David and Goliath), fearless of the unknown(except for the 'swart gevaar' a.k.a 'tar roads') and creates his own legend through his business and living. Needless to say that with an industrial fridge in the corner of his garage(in pic below)stocked better than Solly Kramers and a problem as described above it only took Swaerrie a few beers to come up with the plan: why don`t we take the bikes up to Gauties and fly the woman and children up--win/win solution.
We will ride dirt roads to Gauties(east coast up)have the party and ride down again(west coast) 1 week up,1 week down. If i knew then what i know now i would have seriously considered kicking him in the family jewels, then having him locked up in Falkenberg thinking such crazy thoughts but needless to say alcohol was taking its toll and my strong rubber arm got twisted. Some dark force took over and before i could help myself i hear the word 'yes' come out of my mouth. We decided we will sleep and eat where we stop
Word got out and Swaerrie managed to convinced two mates of ours Terry and Tony in EL to join us. They will join us through Ciskei,Transkei and Lesotho and then turn back to EL as we get through the Lesotho border.About two months before the trip Swaerrie and i + family went camping in Porterville, we met another biker Andre(beemer 650) and when he heard about this plan was eager to join in as he had to get to Gauties at the same time for other obligations, what an coincidense?
The rest to follow is a mix of Swaerrie and my recollection:
We decided the hair had to go first as we did not know when we will have time for the cosmetics.
Swaerrie says:
DAY 1 â?? CT to Calitzdorp
Packing was interesting, especially being that we had not done this type of distance before. Some of the less common things we packed were:
- Mascot (Ratatouille the rat), 2x drie poot chairs, Mokka Espresso maker (any self respecting Italian would have taken one) and kiddies gifts.
Yes, we decided that we would take colouring books and small puzzles for the kids in the rural areas. Sweets are nice, but does not help their development. We could all make more effort here.
We did take sweets too, but ended up to be more popular with the adults, especially those whose â??moufs was full off gapsâ??.
We left Friday 25 Jan 08 via R62 to Barrydale. First official stop (barring the â??beer o clockâ?? stops) was Karoo Saloon on the R62 just before Barrydale, a place with character.
Here we met the owner and his chick, Mango (this one didnâ??t have a big mango).
He also had and a couple of day old Black Varkies, lying in a box. So schweeet!
Dustsucker says: If there was a way to keep them this size i would have one as a pet without giving it a second thought.
Swaerrie says:
After that, dirt road all the way, till the GS650â??s tail light dondered out. Not a very solid Voorsprung Deutch construction this! After a few minutes of debate whether we should refit it or loose it, it ended in the top box for the rest of the trip.
Our next village would be Van Wyksdorp, a small farming community of 10 or so old buildings with Boggerall else.
There where two small trading stores in this village of which one was closed and other bustling, with loud music pumping and much dancing and happiness in a bottle. We obviously got numerous waves and gestures to join in, but It was to late in the day and too early in our trip to join the plaasvolk. We greeted back but moved on.
Climbing out Rooiberg Pass would eventually lead us towards
Calitzdorp, our first planned stop over. We only saw the first half of the pass, and at least a beauty sunset, before the night caught us. The rest of the pass down to Calitzdorp, was done in total darkness, nearly hitting a moerse groot haas in the road.
Dustsucker says: Here Swaerrie is doing the 'poeplint dance' half way up Rooiberg pass as nature was calling and i had the toilet paper in my topbox - you know, the man with the poeplint has the power and i was taking silent revenge for sucking all his dust the whole day long.
Swaerrie says:
The place we found in Calitzdorp was Rosies BB. The add on the building is rather interesting and wide reaching.
We obviously just stopped because we saw the first word.
Had a lekker chat with the old uncle sitting behind the till, which came out, had been a journalist and knew all the passes and towns in the Klein Karroo â??like de back off de handâ??.
There was now way we where gonna sleep early on our first night so we ended up at the Grand Hotel for a couple of shots.
DAY 2 â?? Swartberg to Baviaans
Good food, hospitality and rooms at Rosies.
Then, packing bonies and the necessary saamspan the next morning.
Leaving Calitzdorp north, you ride past the dam and all the way along a winding road though farmlands leading up to the start of the Swartberg Pass. Beauty.
Going up is pretty, but once you hit the top and come down the other side, its awesome! We killed the engines and freed down to the bottom. You can chat and enjoy the descent in total tranquility.
At the bottom, we found and swam in this crystal clear river
From here we went via Meiringspoort
and got some mileage underway.
Nice pass between Outschoorn and Prince Albert, worth doing. Just after that the temperature started soaring, really cooking! So much so that some oke pulling into De Rust, where had stopped, almost dropped his bike as the stand sank into the Tar! These guys where on their way to Namibia.
We hit it on route to the Baviaans via, Nuwekloof Pass. Before getting there, we had to detour and ended us on some guys land. What the sign basically said was â??Trespassers will be shoot wif M16 and fed to biek doksâ??
It was a lekker little trip into the Baviaanskloof from Willowmore side and found a place to crash called Boskamp. Here we could chill and pitch tent. The Katoem came in handy to defrost the meat we had bought from the Tanie at the trading store along the way. Ratguard watched it!
Dustsucker says: On more thing a Katoem motor is good for, defrosting the tjoppies.
Swaerrie says:
DAY 3 â?? Eastern Cape
One of the longest days of the trip, 13 hours on the move. Started with riding the Baviaanskloof proper.
Simply bikers paradise! We must have encountered at least 15 bikers along the way.
â??Those East Cape boys are really spoiltâ?? I thought to myself, momentarily
forgetting that now matter where, we are actually all lucky living in SA.
Water crossings, passes, trails canopied by trees for kmâ??s, wild game close by the roadside, crystal clear rivers, all just pristine.
The baboons wait for you to cross the water, as if to see what will happen. Much like those hairy ape looking okes that hang around bike rally main roads waiting for the action.
Dustsucker says: Rattatouille making new friends
As the woman was at home Rattatouille decided to take it upon himself to check up on us every 10 minutes and call us to get to sleep....he was scared and lonely on his eis.
We managed to lure him out of the tent and back to the party
Swaerrie says:
Once through Patensie, we carried on to Uitenhage and out towards the western outskirts of the Addo Park. Stopping at Sondays and chatting amongst ourselves, we realized that we might have a potential problem. Would bikes be allowed through Suurberg Pass, being part of the Addo Park?
Then, like angels sent from Bikers heaven, two big dudes on bright yellow BMW GSâ??s pulled in. You know, like when those okes on TV cover their faces as the blinding light appears from the sky, this bright where those Beemers. After a quick intro(Morne and also Andre), they offered to take us through the pass and out the other side.
What lekker okes, offering to take a 3 hour detour just to get us there safe!
At the top of the pass, we went through a couple of strange, massive electric gates. Close to these gates were moerse droppings, like never seen before. At first I didnâ??t realise but then put 2 and 2 together. These were Elephant poopies. At this stage I got worried of loosing my Swaer and his KLR in one of those massive mounds, but realized that we would at least see the red of his bike standing out. Maybe thatâ??s why those okes had yellow bonies?
Time was running out and we found ourselves chasing time along a tight double spoor. This was the Krommrivier 4x4 trail (T4A â?? Garmin)all the way back to the N10.
Along the trail, one of the GSâ??s top boxes moered off (about time for BMW to sort this one out) and the plan was the â??boer maak n planâ?? with bloudraad plan.
Mind you, the pace at which these PE boys where hauling along the bumpy trail, I donâ??t think the Engineers at BMW could have planned for the stresses. The big guy even ended the ride with a celebratory, against all BMW protocol, burnout.
Dustsucker says:
We had to cut his face off as he was scared no other BMW owner will ever greet him again after this. These were really genuine guys and i could not believe effort they made to show us around. What a pleasant buch the PE/EL crowd.
It was â??Thanks chapsâ??, and off we went to Middleton, the suggested stop over by da PE boys.
We found the interesting little station, complete with bar and hotel. As pretty and historic as it was, it also had a sad side.
This is the place where Noupoort rehab kids go for â??Social Re-introductionâ??. It brought our attention to the magnitude of the drug problem in our society, particularly moving when you have kids of your own.
Here you can see that it cuts across all genders & races. Most are younger than 25 in my estimate.
Dustsucker says:
Here i chatted to a girl also from CT who had a short time left before she could go home. Looking into her eyes i am sure what i saw but the mixture of whatever it was left me feeling like my soul was touched by something unknown. I have not been able to get her out of my thoughts and my prayer for her is that she will receive the streng and wisdom to survive when she gets back. Swaerrie is right, as we are fathers ourselves with children i think this makes you look at the issue from a diffirent perspective and i left there feeling very empty and sad.
Swaerrie says:
DAY 4 â?? Middleton to iMonti (East London)
Barring the occasional childish â??throw me with the pillow while I sleepâ?? prank, the beds where soft and a good sleep was had. As he did when he rode, Andre slept with his earplugs in and was therefore not affected by the nonsense.
At this point, we where off the planned route, no problem. â??Die Zumo is n lekker, lekker dingâ??â?¦ isnâ??t there a song like that? There aught to be for this magic device.
Quick squiz at the GPS and a new route was plotted.
Much to our surprise, the route took us through about three large game farms. We saw buck aplenty, Pumba with piglets, Zebras and even a baby Rhino. I still canâ??t believe they let us through on bikes.
I think the friendly â??hi bro, have some sweets, were from Cape Town and howz your motherâ?? approach always helps ease the negotiation and grease the park gate wheels.
After a pleasant ride through the old Ciskei, we got to King Williams Town. In an attempt to impress my mates with the Katoemâ??s range, I didnâ??t fill up at the last stop.
This would end in running dry 200m from the fuel station at Dimbaza. Very, very sharp! At least we now know it can do 480km on a tank.
After stopping at Hyperspares, business of once good friend and ex racing legend (now deceased), Ivor Raasch, we headed of to East London.
Here. My mate Terry would be waiting eagerly with beers in hand, for our arrival. Celebrations started with immediate effect.
The garage was full of bikes, fridge full of booze and ambiance full of happiness. Always good to see old mates, especially Moena (Terry) and missus, which I have known for a long time.
Before soon, Tony pulled in, then G man.
I phoned a chap, which I had spoken to about riding in the Wild Coast called Nardus.
After a while, we heard the most beautiful music outside the garage door.
You know, that sound that gives any petrol head a boner!
Nardus arrived on his beauty KTM950 kitted with long range (40L) and akrapov gunners. Eishhhâ?¦ what a matchien. After chatting, it turns out he is a legend adventure rider that has been all over, including from here to Israel!
Even better, Swaer and I had been admiring a story of 5 okes having a moerse joll riding in Angola (www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269251&highlight=angola).
Dustsucker says: I see Nardus`s trip is on this web site under 'best reports'
Nardus(what a legend!) with the camo shirt, Andre admiring the Katoem and Tony with the blue shirt.
Swaerrie says:
It turned out to be him(Nardus) and his mates!
What an experienced, genuine and modest guy.
Yes, more BMW repairs. We found a bust sub-frame bolt. Drilled it out and fitted a HT bolt. I know what some guys are thinking, I knowâ?¦ I am enjoying the dig.
Dustsucker says:
We left Terry`s garage that night looking like this, ready for the big day tomorrow, 5 of us together.
We celebrated our safe arrival at EL till late that night. Terry`s bar fridge half way through.
This is what my shirt looked like after 3 days of sucking dust.My jean looked much worse and we feared for the worse....spontaneous combustion.
Needless to say, we all went to bed the next morning at 04h00, up at 07h00 and bright eyed and bushy tailed....What a way to wake up on your 40th birthday.
As i have reached my 'upload limit' for image storage for this month i will have to wait a while before i can post the rest of our trip.
Day 5+6
https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=15490.0
Swaerrie reminds me alot about David(David and Goliath), fearless of the unknown(except for the 'swart gevaar' a.k.a 'tar roads') and creates his own legend through his business and living. Needless to say that with an industrial fridge in the corner of his garage(in pic below)stocked better than Solly Kramers and a problem as described above it only took Swaerrie a few beers to come up with the plan: why don`t we take the bikes up to Gauties and fly the woman and children up--win/win solution.
We will ride dirt roads to Gauties(east coast up)have the party and ride down again(west coast) 1 week up,1 week down. If i knew then what i know now i would have seriously considered kicking him in the family jewels, then having him locked up in Falkenberg thinking such crazy thoughts but needless to say alcohol was taking its toll and my strong rubber arm got twisted. Some dark force took over and before i could help myself i hear the word 'yes' come out of my mouth. We decided we will sleep and eat where we stop
Word got out and Swaerrie managed to convinced two mates of ours Terry and Tony in EL to join us. They will join us through Ciskei,Transkei and Lesotho and then turn back to EL as we get through the Lesotho border.About two months before the trip Swaerrie and i + family went camping in Porterville, we met another biker Andre(beemer 650) and when he heard about this plan was eager to join in as he had to get to Gauties at the same time for other obligations, what an coincidense?
The rest to follow is a mix of Swaerrie and my recollection:
We decided the hair had to go first as we did not know when we will have time for the cosmetics.
Swaerrie says:
DAY 1 â?? CT to Calitzdorp
Packing was interesting, especially being that we had not done this type of distance before. Some of the less common things we packed were:
- Mascot (Ratatouille the rat), 2x drie poot chairs, Mokka Espresso maker (any self respecting Italian would have taken one) and kiddies gifts.
Yes, we decided that we would take colouring books and small puzzles for the kids in the rural areas. Sweets are nice, but does not help their development. We could all make more effort here.
We did take sweets too, but ended up to be more popular with the adults, especially those whose â??moufs was full off gapsâ??.
We left Friday 25 Jan 08 via R62 to Barrydale. First official stop (barring the â??beer o clockâ?? stops) was Karoo Saloon on the R62 just before Barrydale, a place with character.
Here we met the owner and his chick, Mango (this one didnâ??t have a big mango).
He also had and a couple of day old Black Varkies, lying in a box. So schweeet!
Dustsucker says: If there was a way to keep them this size i would have one as a pet without giving it a second thought.
Swaerrie says:
After that, dirt road all the way, till the GS650â??s tail light dondered out. Not a very solid Voorsprung Deutch construction this! After a few minutes of debate whether we should refit it or loose it, it ended in the top box for the rest of the trip.
Our next village would be Van Wyksdorp, a small farming community of 10 or so old buildings with Boggerall else.
There where two small trading stores in this village of which one was closed and other bustling, with loud music pumping and much dancing and happiness in a bottle. We obviously got numerous waves and gestures to join in, but It was to late in the day and too early in our trip to join the plaasvolk. We greeted back but moved on.
Climbing out Rooiberg Pass would eventually lead us towards
Calitzdorp, our first planned stop over. We only saw the first half of the pass, and at least a beauty sunset, before the night caught us. The rest of the pass down to Calitzdorp, was done in total darkness, nearly hitting a moerse groot haas in the road.
Dustsucker says: Here Swaerrie is doing the 'poeplint dance' half way up Rooiberg pass as nature was calling and i had the toilet paper in my topbox - you know, the man with the poeplint has the power and i was taking silent revenge for sucking all his dust the whole day long.
Swaerrie says:
The place we found in Calitzdorp was Rosies BB. The add on the building is rather interesting and wide reaching.
We obviously just stopped because we saw the first word.
Had a lekker chat with the old uncle sitting behind the till, which came out, had been a journalist and knew all the passes and towns in the Klein Karroo â??like de back off de handâ??.
There was now way we where gonna sleep early on our first night so we ended up at the Grand Hotel for a couple of shots.
DAY 2 â?? Swartberg to Baviaans
Good food, hospitality and rooms at Rosies.
Then, packing bonies and the necessary saamspan the next morning.
Leaving Calitzdorp north, you ride past the dam and all the way along a winding road though farmlands leading up to the start of the Swartberg Pass. Beauty.
Going up is pretty, but once you hit the top and come down the other side, its awesome! We killed the engines and freed down to the bottom. You can chat and enjoy the descent in total tranquility.
At the bottom, we found and swam in this crystal clear river
From here we went via Meiringspoort
and got some mileage underway.
Nice pass between Outschoorn and Prince Albert, worth doing. Just after that the temperature started soaring, really cooking! So much so that some oke pulling into De Rust, where had stopped, almost dropped his bike as the stand sank into the Tar! These guys where on their way to Namibia.
We hit it on route to the Baviaans via, Nuwekloof Pass. Before getting there, we had to detour and ended us on some guys land. What the sign basically said was â??Trespassers will be shoot wif M16 and fed to biek doksâ??
It was a lekker little trip into the Baviaanskloof from Willowmore side and found a place to crash called Boskamp. Here we could chill and pitch tent. The Katoem came in handy to defrost the meat we had bought from the Tanie at the trading store along the way. Ratguard watched it!
Dustsucker says: On more thing a Katoem motor is good for, defrosting the tjoppies.
Swaerrie says:
DAY 3 â?? Eastern Cape
One of the longest days of the trip, 13 hours on the move. Started with riding the Baviaanskloof proper.
Simply bikers paradise! We must have encountered at least 15 bikers along the way.
â??Those East Cape boys are really spoiltâ?? I thought to myself, momentarily
forgetting that now matter where, we are actually all lucky living in SA.
Water crossings, passes, trails canopied by trees for kmâ??s, wild game close by the roadside, crystal clear rivers, all just pristine.
The baboons wait for you to cross the water, as if to see what will happen. Much like those hairy ape looking okes that hang around bike rally main roads waiting for the action.
Dustsucker says: Rattatouille making new friends
As the woman was at home Rattatouille decided to take it upon himself to check up on us every 10 minutes and call us to get to sleep....he was scared and lonely on his eis.
We managed to lure him out of the tent and back to the party
Swaerrie says:
Once through Patensie, we carried on to Uitenhage and out towards the western outskirts of the Addo Park. Stopping at Sondays and chatting amongst ourselves, we realized that we might have a potential problem. Would bikes be allowed through Suurberg Pass, being part of the Addo Park?
Then, like angels sent from Bikers heaven, two big dudes on bright yellow BMW GSâ??s pulled in. You know, like when those okes on TV cover their faces as the blinding light appears from the sky, this bright where those Beemers. After a quick intro(Morne and also Andre), they offered to take us through the pass and out the other side.
What lekker okes, offering to take a 3 hour detour just to get us there safe!
At the top of the pass, we went through a couple of strange, massive electric gates. Close to these gates were moerse droppings, like never seen before. At first I didnâ??t realise but then put 2 and 2 together. These were Elephant poopies. At this stage I got worried of loosing my Swaer and his KLR in one of those massive mounds, but realized that we would at least see the red of his bike standing out. Maybe thatâ??s why those okes had yellow bonies?
Time was running out and we found ourselves chasing time along a tight double spoor. This was the Krommrivier 4x4 trail (T4A â?? Garmin)all the way back to the N10.
Along the trail, one of the GSâ??s top boxes moered off (about time for BMW to sort this one out) and the plan was the â??boer maak n planâ?? with bloudraad plan.
Mind you, the pace at which these PE boys where hauling along the bumpy trail, I donâ??t think the Engineers at BMW could have planned for the stresses. The big guy even ended the ride with a celebratory, against all BMW protocol, burnout.
Dustsucker says:
We had to cut his face off as he was scared no other BMW owner will ever greet him again after this. These were really genuine guys and i could not believe effort they made to show us around. What a pleasant buch the PE/EL crowd.
It was â??Thanks chapsâ??, and off we went to Middleton, the suggested stop over by da PE boys.
We found the interesting little station, complete with bar and hotel. As pretty and historic as it was, it also had a sad side.
This is the place where Noupoort rehab kids go for â??Social Re-introductionâ??. It brought our attention to the magnitude of the drug problem in our society, particularly moving when you have kids of your own.
Here you can see that it cuts across all genders & races. Most are younger than 25 in my estimate.
Dustsucker says:
Here i chatted to a girl also from CT who had a short time left before she could go home. Looking into her eyes i am sure what i saw but the mixture of whatever it was left me feeling like my soul was touched by something unknown. I have not been able to get her out of my thoughts and my prayer for her is that she will receive the streng and wisdom to survive when she gets back. Swaerrie is right, as we are fathers ourselves with children i think this makes you look at the issue from a diffirent perspective and i left there feeling very empty and sad.
Swaerrie says:
DAY 4 â?? Middleton to iMonti (East London)
Barring the occasional childish â??throw me with the pillow while I sleepâ?? prank, the beds where soft and a good sleep was had. As he did when he rode, Andre slept with his earplugs in and was therefore not affected by the nonsense.
At this point, we where off the planned route, no problem. â??Die Zumo is n lekker, lekker dingâ??â?¦ isnâ??t there a song like that? There aught to be for this magic device.
Quick squiz at the GPS and a new route was plotted.
Much to our surprise, the route took us through about three large game farms. We saw buck aplenty, Pumba with piglets, Zebras and even a baby Rhino. I still canâ??t believe they let us through on bikes.
I think the friendly â??hi bro, have some sweets, were from Cape Town and howz your motherâ?? approach always helps ease the negotiation and grease the park gate wheels.
After a pleasant ride through the old Ciskei, we got to King Williams Town. In an attempt to impress my mates with the Katoemâ??s range, I didnâ??t fill up at the last stop.
This would end in running dry 200m from the fuel station at Dimbaza. Very, very sharp! At least we now know it can do 480km on a tank.
After stopping at Hyperspares, business of once good friend and ex racing legend (now deceased), Ivor Raasch, we headed of to East London.
Here. My mate Terry would be waiting eagerly with beers in hand, for our arrival. Celebrations started with immediate effect.
The garage was full of bikes, fridge full of booze and ambiance full of happiness. Always good to see old mates, especially Moena (Terry) and missus, which I have known for a long time.
Before soon, Tony pulled in, then G man.
I phoned a chap, which I had spoken to about riding in the Wild Coast called Nardus.
After a while, we heard the most beautiful music outside the garage door.
You know, that sound that gives any petrol head a boner!
Nardus arrived on his beauty KTM950 kitted with long range (40L) and akrapov gunners. Eishhhâ?¦ what a matchien. After chatting, it turns out he is a legend adventure rider that has been all over, including from here to Israel!
Even better, Swaer and I had been admiring a story of 5 okes having a moerse joll riding in Angola (www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269251&highlight=angola).
Dustsucker says: I see Nardus`s trip is on this web site under 'best reports'
Nardus(what a legend!) with the camo shirt, Andre admiring the Katoem and Tony with the blue shirt.
Swaerrie says:
It turned out to be him(Nardus) and his mates!
What an experienced, genuine and modest guy.
Yes, more BMW repairs. We found a bust sub-frame bolt. Drilled it out and fitted a HT bolt. I know what some guys are thinking, I knowâ?¦ I am enjoying the dig.
Dustsucker says:
We left Terry`s garage that night looking like this, ready for the big day tomorrow, 5 of us together.
We celebrated our safe arrival at EL till late that night. Terry`s bar fridge half way through.
This is what my shirt looked like after 3 days of sucking dust.My jean looked much worse and we feared for the worse....spontaneous combustion.
Needless to say, we all went to bed the next morning at 04h00, up at 07h00 and bright eyed and bushy tailed....What a way to wake up on your 40th birthday.
As i have reached my 'upload limit' for image storage for this month i will have to wait a while before i can post the rest of our trip.
Day 5+6
https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=15490.0
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