Barberton - Cape Town and the wrong way home, my Epic Solo ride (Finally done)

[firecoast]

The R407 between Willowmore and Klaarstroom is THE BEST!!!!!!! Especially when you get towards the rolling bits near Klaarstroom!

That was the road I had my crash on a while ago, about 12km from Klaarstroom....
You would have only found the spot if you had a GPS and the co-ords though, there are still Dakar parts lying all over the place too...
Enjoying your RR so far, looking forward to the rest. :thumleft: :ricky:

There's quite a few lost items on that road... some of those ruts are deceptive!!!

 

[JACOVV]

Ek ry ook lekker saam  :biggrin:

 

[Ian in Great Brak River]

Great trip, thanks for sharing!

  8)

 

[cheesy]

This is a magic trip report thank you for sharing. Jean & I have travelled may of the roads covered except the TVL roads. Please finish the report today.

 

[jorust]

Lekker RR! Nice pics!!  :thumleft:  :thumleft:

 

[Chrissie B]

I will try to write some more tonight... but first have to do some real work  :

Jo, Can't wait til you start your trip again...  ;D 

 

[Chrissie B]

Eventually I arrived in a little village, actually it seemed even smaller than a village… I presume it must have been Groenfontein and shortly after that a very tired me passed through Calitzdorp.  After that it was another 50km to Ladismith, fortunately on tar, so I could open the throttle a bit and make up for lost time.  I didn't have any problems finding Veldblom and Veldbrand’s new place, The Dwars Bar and Koedoeskloof Country Lodge.  

And what a lekker place this is, the warm welcome and ice cold drinks were VERY much appreciated.  The room was excellent and the ostrich burger absolutely delicious.  We chatted for a while, I got the tour of the camping facilities and the new (not so small) puppy-dog took a big liking to me, I almost loaded him on the bike….

That night I slept exceptionally well, I was exhausted after my day’s adventures.   But all too soon the sun was up again and I had to pack the bike and be on my merry way after a small breakfast.  

Debi & Eugene, I wish you guys all the best with your endeavor, I will definitely recommend it to anyone who travels to the Klein Karoo, it is a fantastic place.

(Distance from Aberdeen to Ladismith -with getting lost a bit: 419km)

 

[Chrissie B]

And some more Koedoeskloof pics:

 

[Chrissie B]

Veldbrand mentioned some gravel roads that I could take from here to Montagu, but I really did want to stop at Ronnies *** Shop, just ‘cos it’s the touristy thing to do!  There was a shorter gravel road back on to the R62, but none of us were quite sure if comes out before or after Ronnies, so I opted for the tar.  It’s so pretty there that even the tar road is quite scenic, but in some ways I wish I had taken the gravel, it’s more challenging (for me anyway!).  :imaposer:

Had I known my way around that area, I could have taken a gravel road that comes out before Ronnies, I saw a few roads come out onto the R62… but without GPS and knowing where everything is, how was I to know?  ???

At Ronnie’s *** Shop I took the compulsory (Touristy) photos and had a quick Smirnoff Spin (yes I know it was only 10am, but what the heck, I don’t do that every day and I was on holiday).  It struck me how totally random this place is… but in any case, it was interesting in its own way, so I chatted up the (young) barman a bit and left my business card on the vending machine.  :thumleft:

 

[Chrissie B]

From there it was off to Montagu, Robertson and eventually Worcester to meet Piet Coke and Mapsource for lunch.  I only took a few pics on that stretch, I was just not ‘lus’ to stop every few minutes… I wanted to get to lunch! 

In Montagu I stopped for fuel and noticed the very pretty houses and then of course the grape vines (no, not the skinder-bekkies!) 
And the train at Platform 62 in Robertson was interesting too, so I stopped there quickly and snapped a shot.

 

[Chrissie B]

I arrived in Worcester spot on in time for lunch.  Piet and his Africa Twin met me at the intersection coming into town and led the way to O’Hagans (I think?), where Mapsource and some other peeps, whose names I don’t remember, joined us.  (Please feel free to fill in the blanks)   :3some:

Thanks guys (and gal), it was great to meet you all.  After a few drinks and a good meal I was almost too lazy to do the last stretch into Cape Town, but my Roomie, Wanita, was waiting for me, she had been counting down the days ‘til I got there.  ;D

 

[Chrissie B]

Up until now I’d had a fair amount of wind, sometimes just annoying, sometimes a bit more intimidating, sometimes it even moved me around a bit, but the worst was yet to come!  The wind was so bad coming down the N1 that my Broom sometimes changed lanes without my permission, I was riding at a peculiar sideways angle, trying desperately to keep on track!  Luckily I had those drinks at lunch, made me feel a lot braver than I am!  And at that moment I decided no matter how nice Cape Town is, I would NEVER live there!   :-\

Oh yes, and I also skipped my first Toll Gate in the Western Cape… Hehehe… did they really think that if I don’t pay in GP & MP, I would pay here, no sorry Helen, you do a great job down there, but Toll Gates are a no-no for me on a bike.   The tunnel was pretty cool though, I hooted and revved, as one does, if you’re a bit of a hooligan!  :laughing4:

But WOW… when I finally saw the flat hill surrounded by a city by the sea, I could not believe it… I made it!  It was such an unreal feeling, I was actually there, after all these years of wondering if I will ever see Cape Town!  I was smiling to myself and was sooooo happy that this road trip became a reality… thanks again to all of you that contributed!   ;D

But I couldn't just stare at the mountain, I had to concentrate on where I had to go!  Wanita gave me her address in Bergvliet, I Google Earth’d it, did a street view so I knew what to look for.  But I had to remember all the roads I had to get onto.  I remembered I had to get onto the M5 (that became quite a familiar hiway) after Century City and then turn off somewhere!  Had to pull over to read up the Street names, oh yes, Victoria and De Waal and then left onto Main Road (That became my waypoint, as long as I found Main Road I was happy). From there I remembered exactly how to get to her house.  :deal:
 
Wanita had told me to call her when I get there as she was at her girl-friend’s house.  So I made the call and a few minutes later they pulled up on Anita’s old 1000 Kawasaki (Yes, Wanita and Anita, I had a good giggle about that).  Wanita jumped off the back of the bike even before it came to a stand still!  It was so good to see her, I really missed my Roomie.  She is younger than my daughter, but we became such good friends during my short stay in Bethlehem.  We both could not believe that I was really there!  :biggrin: ;D :biggrin: :3some:

After a refreshing shower we went to where Anita lives at her cousin Millicia’s house.  And what a welcome I received there!  Obviously Wanita had not stopped talking about my impending arrival!  We even walked down the road to meet Auntie Mary and her family.  Millicia made us dinner and eventually we went back to Wanita’s place for a good night’s sleep… well, sort of.  She had organized a blow up mattress for me, but by midnight I was sleeping on a not so soft lounge floor!  But I was too tired and happy to worry about that.  

And the following day was going to be another busy day, with exploring and a concert to attend.

(Distance from Ladismith to Cape Town: 346km - Total distance covered so far: Approx. 2780km)

 

[Ian in Great Brak River]

... remember now that to really have visited CT you have to have a regte egte Bergie swear at you ... 8)

 

[Chrissie B]

... remember now that to really have visited CT you have to have a regte egte Bergie swear at you ... 8)

Oh, I think she did, when I skipped the toll gate... I just heard something about mothers... Laughed so much, almost forgot to 'escape'.

 

[Crab]

Lovely photos, I am really enjoying your ride report!

 

[Geotraveller]

I just read this now....absolutely awesome RR.

 

[Chrissie B]

The following morning I woke up really excited, we were going to the Freshly Ground Concert in the afternoon, but first Wanita, Anita, Millicia (& kids) and I were going for a little ride to Fish Hoek for breakfast.

This time Anita rode her Honda VTR, so my Honda was in good company.  :thumleft:  Millicia and the kids went in the Tata as her and her daughter’s bikes were both out of action.  

After breakfast we walked along the pier and chatted to the Seals a bit.  The one they call Tyson was really cute and huge!  He co-operated by posing really nicely for me and didn't try to eat my phone or my camera, or my arm!   :ricky:

 

[Chrissie B]

And then we posed a bit... and I admired the ocean... it is rather beautiful here!  ;D

 

[Chrissie B]

And of course Tyson the Seal, the little harbor, Me (posing again  :lol8: ) and the Hondas posing on Boyes Drive.

 

[Chrissie B]

Afterwards we went back to Millicia’s house to organise the food we were taking with us to the concert.  I swear they wanted to feed the whole of Kirstenbosch Gardens!  And of course we had to carry this lot all the way from the car park to the concert venue… ah well, at least we were not going to starve today and there was enough to drink too!   :laughing4:

On the way to the concert (we went in the Tata)… I realized once again that I was really in Cape Town, it said so on the building AND on the Bus, so it must be true!!   :imaposer: