Plothond
Race Dog
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2006
- Messages
- 4,929
- Reaction score
- 10
- Location
- Pretoria East - Home of Jameson
- Bike
- KTM 1090 Adventure R
WAKKERSTROOM
Location and a bit of History
The earliest known people that lived in the Wakkerstroom area were the
Khoisan. Many examples of rock art usually attributed to them can be found
in the area. These people were undoubtedly attracted to the vast herds of
game that were found on the grassland plains of the area.
The Volksraad of the Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek in Potchefstroom decided
that there was a need to establish a town between Potchefstroom and
Utrecht. Swart Dirk Uys, who lived in the vicinity, was instructed by the
Executive Council to find a site for a town that met the criteria of having good
grazing and plenty of water to cater for the cattle and other livestock of both
the residents and passing travellers.
His brief was simply to find a suitable site for the new town, but Swart Dirk
decided to measure out the town anyway, before any approval was given by
the Volksraad. He accomplished this by cutting a 50 yard long thong from an
eland bull that he had shot when he arrived at his chosen site to measure out
stands in the future town.
Using his layout he submitted plans Volksraad for the layout of the town he
called Uys en Burg. The plans were submitted to the Volksraad by President
M.W. Pretorius and were unanimously accepted by them on 21st September,
1859. Swart Dirkâ??s name for the planned town was not accepted, however
and the town was officially named Marthinus Wesselstroom - the name which
is still used on official documents today - in the District of Wakkerstroom.
With a typical Boer disregard for central authority the district name of
Wakkerstroom was adopted as the â??unofficialâ? name for the newly proclaimed
town.
On 12th April 1877 Sir Theophilus Shepstone, using the pretext that the
President Burgersâ?? government was bankrupt and ineffective, annexed the
Transvaal as a British colony ostensibly to preserve the security of Natal. All
the ZAR towns, including Wakkerstroom, were occupied by British forces.
Shepstone was succeeded as Administrator of the new colony by Sir William
Owen Lanyon in January 1879.
After much indecision by both Boers and Brits it was the attempted collection
of arrear taxes that led to the final decision by the Boers to start the War of
Independence. The burghers (citizens) of the Wakkerstroom district played a
leading role in this. On 16th November 1880 they placed the following
advertisement, with 113 signatories, in De Volkstem, a Pretoria newspaper:
â??The undersigned burghers of Wakkerstroom district, having learnt that some
of the inhabitants of the district have been called upon and others are being
summoned to pay quit-rent and railway tax, seeing that the country is being
robbed illegally and we, burghers of the country, owe no quit-rent except to
the lawfully constituted Government of the S.A. Republic, we fully expect from
those persons who arrogate to themselves to demand quit-rent in this manner
and to molest us, the burghers, that they will now leave us in peace, as we will
pay no quit-rent unless an Estimates Law shall have been promulgated by our
Volksraad in accordance with the Grondwet; and we bring this to the notice of
you gentleman, who send written demands to us an molest us.
And we hereby forbid all Englishmen or English partisans, of those who call
themselves officials in this country, from coming on our ground or to our
homes for whatever reason, as we will have nothing to do with low betrayers
of the country.â??
This advertisement helped bring matters to a head. A Republican meeting
held at Paardekraal on 8th December 1880, near the present-day
Krugersdorp. It was resolved to fight, to the death if necessary, for the
restoration of the republic. The War of Independence officially started at
Potchefstroom on 16th December 1880.
Some Flowers in Wakkerstroom
Strangely enough, most of my planned overnighters creep up sort of unexpectedly and then are suddenly upon me. This was not one of them. Maybe it was the holidays, but I just could not wait for Thursday to dawn
My 990 was packed, prepped and ready to go by 7 the previous evening â?? also a first
Our group became complete in Wakkerstroom with Wild Hearted Son and Pom making their own way down
Five of us (Myself, Jag(s)hond, Gryshond, Splash and Leon) left from my place rather late but non-the-less, by 08:30 we were on the road.
Once again, I did not disappoint myself as the routes for all 3 days were about as perfect as they could be (with the exception of the first 100km and last 150km â?? Gauteng is not picture perfect)
All those that missed out â?? you surely did. This trip will be repeated. The riding was absolutely phenomenal and all level 1 stuff (add a bit of rain and it could escalate to level 3 â?? but not this time)
Route Day 1
420 km
En route to Vrede
Everyone soon got into their groove and I noticed that my comfort zone had improved and soon we were belting down perfect dirt roads at 130km/h, sometimes pushing the 150 mark
Gryshond
Dualsport bikes supplementing their diet ;D
Lunch in Vrede at Tassies pub and restaurant
Definitely recommended as a meal stop-over point
The food was reasonably priced and TOP CLASS
With fuel tanks topped up, tummies full and 260km behind us, we set Memel in our sights
We entered Memel from the North and, without stopping set of on the tar road to Newcastle. A few kilometers up the drag, it was a left turn and back onto dirt
This is the same piece of road we took on the Sunday during the Memel trip organized by Adventurer earlier this year and takes one to Amajuba
A rest break with some exceptional views
Jaghond
Plothond
Gryshond
Another visit to the old disused railway tunnel which was built/completed in 117 years ago
During a short break at a biltong shop just outside Volksrust we see two bikes approaching and soon hear the smooth purring of two TW200â??s as they come cruising past at a leisurely pace. Itâ??s Jerrycan and Linda. We wave as they pass us.
Soon we arrived in Wakkerstroom and with just over 400kmâ??s on the rubber for the day, we felt that we had done well
The Weavers Nest was our base for the next two nights and a great venue.
The place is run by a semi-mad Irishman called Mark whose hospitality knows no bounds. We ate in the restaurant the 2nd evening and superb cuisine rounded off a perfect day.
Route Day 2
300 Km
Friday dawned slightly overcast and there was a distant threat of rain for most of the day
Taking the road to Utrecht immediately put us onto dirt and a lovely pass with breathtaking views
POM
WHS
Just magnificent
My opinion of Top Boxes - not for dirt roads. I can think of maybe 5 or 6 rides in the last 12 months where they have either done a complete walkabout (Blouvark) or cracked or broken the mountings (Major Tom, Leon etc..)
There is just too much stress on the mountings and they do not last. Fine for tar and long easy trips â?? not dirt, especially when it is rough.
A rest break and top box repair centre
Here we are â?? repairing the KTM mounting bracket
Notice the toolkit that Gryshond packed in â?? just a pity the drill was left at home
WHS, POM and Splash looking on, waiting for Leon to complete the repair
Some lovely scenes entering the pass down to Utrecht. I had this incredible feeling of a sense of belonging â?? a belonging to the Wilddog pack. Again, as before on many previous trips, here we were; some good friends, and some perfect strangers â?? yet we were enjoying a picturesque landscapes and riding together like weâ??d known each other for years & years.
An attempt at a â??Jerrycanâ? photo. Nothing compared to his, but at least I tried
A cold one at the local club hit the spot and we were ready for the next section of the day. It did not last long.
Immediately on leaving town it was up and up another rubber ripping, grin inspiring pass.
Splash
Plothond & Gryshond
So much so, that Jag(s)hond got all â??jagsâ? and rode straight into Leon at the top of the pass. Leon got such a fright, he just ran away !!!
The recent rains seemed to have destroyed a few roads and the roadworks got our pulses racing and the shocks pumping. Lekker lekker !!!
We reached this bridge. I stopped. I shouldnâ??t have. But I did. It was fun though !!!
Why use the new bridge when the old one is also good
I got wet
Then I really got wet â?? Leon having some fun
Some nice scenes
This is such a great ride and the landscape was just green, green green - Lovely
Then Gryshond spotted a waterfall. He shouldnâ??t have.
A bit of cross country took us there and where the Angels feared to tread, Leon and I went boldly forward
Then we both got REALLY REALLY wet when my bike slipped and I fell on top of him whilst negotiating the waterfall
Here we are doing the recovery. Sorry no â??downâ? pics as we were laughing too much
At least the pics were worth it
We had lunch in Paulpietersburg. No Wimpy, No Steers, no Nothing. I stopped a police van and the kind gent gave us an escort through town to a koffie winkel / takeaway. The opened the restaurant section for us â?? about 3.5m x 3.5m in size, put on the aircon and in no time we were munching our way through delicious burgers and their entire stock of cokes
Time was marching on so I had to unfortunately cut a section off the route. Not to worry â?? there are hundreds of kilometers to be explored here â?? next time !!
Another biological break with everyone showing their best side ;D
Leon, Jaghond, Gryshond, WHS, Splash
My rubber looking rather sad, and Leonâ??s a bit better
Gryshond shows us how a Strom should be handled
Final stretch
.... and last views for the day
First time I tried a pic on the move. Room for improvement Iâ??d say
While we were out, the ladies went shopping in Wakkerstroom - Seriously >
Leon got a wonderful surprise when we arrived that evening
This should also be the right time to expound on the virtues of a wonderful piece of Austrian engineering â?? that being the KTM990
This is a brilliantly balanced and exceptionally capable & powerful machine. The few headshakes experienced when blasting down the dirt roads at 130km/hour + were soaked up and shaken off with impunity.
Lurkers were vaulted as if a gold medal was waiting around the corner and never once did I feel that I was not in control.
Yes I did loose it a few times, but that was rider error, and a decent yet controlled twist of the right wrist brought it all back under control.
It behaves like a desert racer in the dirt and like a motard on the tar.
By lunch on the first day, I just knew the rubber on the back would not last the balance of the trip and it took a serious amount of self control to keep the power transmission to the rear sprocket in check.
��aaaah what a ride !!!!
.... to be continued
Location and a bit of History
The earliest known people that lived in the Wakkerstroom area were the
Khoisan. Many examples of rock art usually attributed to them can be found
in the area. These people were undoubtedly attracted to the vast herds of
game that were found on the grassland plains of the area.
The Volksraad of the Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek in Potchefstroom decided
that there was a need to establish a town between Potchefstroom and
Utrecht. Swart Dirk Uys, who lived in the vicinity, was instructed by the
Executive Council to find a site for a town that met the criteria of having good
grazing and plenty of water to cater for the cattle and other livestock of both
the residents and passing travellers.
His brief was simply to find a suitable site for the new town, but Swart Dirk
decided to measure out the town anyway, before any approval was given by
the Volksraad. He accomplished this by cutting a 50 yard long thong from an
eland bull that he had shot when he arrived at his chosen site to measure out
stands in the future town.
Using his layout he submitted plans Volksraad for the layout of the town he
called Uys en Burg. The plans were submitted to the Volksraad by President
M.W. Pretorius and were unanimously accepted by them on 21st September,
1859. Swart Dirkâ??s name for the planned town was not accepted, however
and the town was officially named Marthinus Wesselstroom - the name which
is still used on official documents today - in the District of Wakkerstroom.
With a typical Boer disregard for central authority the district name of
Wakkerstroom was adopted as the â??unofficialâ? name for the newly proclaimed
town.
On 12th April 1877 Sir Theophilus Shepstone, using the pretext that the
President Burgersâ?? government was bankrupt and ineffective, annexed the
Transvaal as a British colony ostensibly to preserve the security of Natal. All
the ZAR towns, including Wakkerstroom, were occupied by British forces.
Shepstone was succeeded as Administrator of the new colony by Sir William
Owen Lanyon in January 1879.
After much indecision by both Boers and Brits it was the attempted collection
of arrear taxes that led to the final decision by the Boers to start the War of
Independence. The burghers (citizens) of the Wakkerstroom district played a
leading role in this. On 16th November 1880 they placed the following
advertisement, with 113 signatories, in De Volkstem, a Pretoria newspaper:
â??The undersigned burghers of Wakkerstroom district, having learnt that some
of the inhabitants of the district have been called upon and others are being
summoned to pay quit-rent and railway tax, seeing that the country is being
robbed illegally and we, burghers of the country, owe no quit-rent except to
the lawfully constituted Government of the S.A. Republic, we fully expect from
those persons who arrogate to themselves to demand quit-rent in this manner
and to molest us, the burghers, that they will now leave us in peace, as we will
pay no quit-rent unless an Estimates Law shall have been promulgated by our
Volksraad in accordance with the Grondwet; and we bring this to the notice of
you gentleman, who send written demands to us an molest us.
And we hereby forbid all Englishmen or English partisans, of those who call
themselves officials in this country, from coming on our ground or to our
homes for whatever reason, as we will have nothing to do with low betrayers
of the country.â??
This advertisement helped bring matters to a head. A Republican meeting
held at Paardekraal on 8th December 1880, near the present-day
Krugersdorp. It was resolved to fight, to the death if necessary, for the
restoration of the republic. The War of Independence officially started at
Potchefstroom on 16th December 1880.
Some Flowers in Wakkerstroom
Strangely enough, most of my planned overnighters creep up sort of unexpectedly and then are suddenly upon me. This was not one of them. Maybe it was the holidays, but I just could not wait for Thursday to dawn
My 990 was packed, prepped and ready to go by 7 the previous evening â?? also a first
Our group became complete in Wakkerstroom with Wild Hearted Son and Pom making their own way down
Five of us (Myself, Jag(s)hond, Gryshond, Splash and Leon) left from my place rather late but non-the-less, by 08:30 we were on the road.
Once again, I did not disappoint myself as the routes for all 3 days were about as perfect as they could be (with the exception of the first 100km and last 150km â?? Gauteng is not picture perfect)
All those that missed out â?? you surely did. This trip will be repeated. The riding was absolutely phenomenal and all level 1 stuff (add a bit of rain and it could escalate to level 3 â?? but not this time)
Route Day 1
420 km
En route to Vrede
Everyone soon got into their groove and I noticed that my comfort zone had improved and soon we were belting down perfect dirt roads at 130km/h, sometimes pushing the 150 mark
Gryshond
Dualsport bikes supplementing their diet ;D
Lunch in Vrede at Tassies pub and restaurant
Definitely recommended as a meal stop-over point
The food was reasonably priced and TOP CLASS
With fuel tanks topped up, tummies full and 260km behind us, we set Memel in our sights
We entered Memel from the North and, without stopping set of on the tar road to Newcastle. A few kilometers up the drag, it was a left turn and back onto dirt
This is the same piece of road we took on the Sunday during the Memel trip organized by Adventurer earlier this year and takes one to Amajuba
A rest break with some exceptional views
Jaghond
Plothond
Gryshond
Another visit to the old disused railway tunnel which was built/completed in 117 years ago
During a short break at a biltong shop just outside Volksrust we see two bikes approaching and soon hear the smooth purring of two TW200â??s as they come cruising past at a leisurely pace. Itâ??s Jerrycan and Linda. We wave as they pass us.
Soon we arrived in Wakkerstroom and with just over 400kmâ??s on the rubber for the day, we felt that we had done well
The Weavers Nest was our base for the next two nights and a great venue.
The place is run by a semi-mad Irishman called Mark whose hospitality knows no bounds. We ate in the restaurant the 2nd evening and superb cuisine rounded off a perfect day.
Route Day 2
300 Km
Friday dawned slightly overcast and there was a distant threat of rain for most of the day
Taking the road to Utrecht immediately put us onto dirt and a lovely pass with breathtaking views
POM
WHS
Just magnificent
My opinion of Top Boxes - not for dirt roads. I can think of maybe 5 or 6 rides in the last 12 months where they have either done a complete walkabout (Blouvark) or cracked or broken the mountings (Major Tom, Leon etc..)
There is just too much stress on the mountings and they do not last. Fine for tar and long easy trips â?? not dirt, especially when it is rough.
A rest break and top box repair centre
Here we are â?? repairing the KTM mounting bracket
Notice the toolkit that Gryshond packed in â?? just a pity the drill was left at home
WHS, POM and Splash looking on, waiting for Leon to complete the repair
Some lovely scenes entering the pass down to Utrecht. I had this incredible feeling of a sense of belonging â?? a belonging to the Wilddog pack. Again, as before on many previous trips, here we were; some good friends, and some perfect strangers â?? yet we were enjoying a picturesque landscapes and riding together like weâ??d known each other for years & years.
An attempt at a â??Jerrycanâ? photo. Nothing compared to his, but at least I tried
A cold one at the local club hit the spot and we were ready for the next section of the day. It did not last long.
Immediately on leaving town it was up and up another rubber ripping, grin inspiring pass.
Splash
Plothond & Gryshond
So much so, that Jag(s)hond got all â??jagsâ? and rode straight into Leon at the top of the pass. Leon got such a fright, he just ran away !!!
The recent rains seemed to have destroyed a few roads and the roadworks got our pulses racing and the shocks pumping. Lekker lekker !!!
We reached this bridge. I stopped. I shouldnâ??t have. But I did. It was fun though !!!
Why use the new bridge when the old one is also good
I got wet
Then I really got wet â?? Leon having some fun
Some nice scenes
This is such a great ride and the landscape was just green, green green - Lovely
Then Gryshond spotted a waterfall. He shouldnâ??t have.
A bit of cross country took us there and where the Angels feared to tread, Leon and I went boldly forward
Then we both got REALLY REALLY wet when my bike slipped and I fell on top of him whilst negotiating the waterfall
Here we are doing the recovery. Sorry no â??downâ? pics as we were laughing too much
At least the pics were worth it
We had lunch in Paulpietersburg. No Wimpy, No Steers, no Nothing. I stopped a police van and the kind gent gave us an escort through town to a koffie winkel / takeaway. The opened the restaurant section for us â?? about 3.5m x 3.5m in size, put on the aircon and in no time we were munching our way through delicious burgers and their entire stock of cokes
Time was marching on so I had to unfortunately cut a section off the route. Not to worry â?? there are hundreds of kilometers to be explored here â?? next time !!
Another biological break with everyone showing their best side ;D
Leon, Jaghond, Gryshond, WHS, Splash
My rubber looking rather sad, and Leonâ??s a bit better
Gryshond shows us how a Strom should be handled
Final stretch
.... and last views for the day
First time I tried a pic on the move. Room for improvement Iâ??d say
While we were out, the ladies went shopping in Wakkerstroom - Seriously >
Leon got a wonderful surprise when we arrived that evening
This should also be the right time to expound on the virtues of a wonderful piece of Austrian engineering â?? that being the KTM990
This is a brilliantly balanced and exceptionally capable & powerful machine. The few headshakes experienced when blasting down the dirt roads at 130km/hour + were soaked up and shaken off with impunity.
Lurkers were vaulted as if a gold medal was waiting around the corner and never once did I feel that I was not in control.
Yes I did loose it a few times, but that was rider error, and a decent yet controlled twist of the right wrist brought it all back under control.
It behaves like a desert racer in the dirt and like a motard on the tar.
By lunch on the first day, I just knew the rubber on the back would not last the balance of the trip and it took a serious amount of self control to keep the power transmission to the rear sprocket in check.
��aaaah what a ride !!!!
.... to be continued
