Cederberg Oasis spit braai (23-24 Apr 2022), Our home away from home

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Joined
Jan 22, 2015
Messages
7,386
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Location
Western Cape
Bike
BMW F800GS
Most of you will be familiar with Cederberg Oasis. If not, I highly recommend that you put it on your “Bike-It” list and go and visit Gerrit and the friendly
people at the happy place with the big yellow smiley face. The name says it all, it is truly an Oasis and a place where you can reset from the city rush.

Oasis has an annual spit braai for adventure bikers, that is one of the highlights of the calendar. I immediately checked my calendar when I saw the post
for the spit braai and as luck would have it, I had an empty slot in my calendar that I immediately filled.

After sending out a couple of whatsapp messages to some regular riding buddies we soon were a group of 10 people, 7 bikes and a bakkie.

The day finally arrived and most of us met at my house at 7h from where we will depart heading to Wellington where 2 more bikes will join us.

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The planned route was to ride tar towards Porterville from there we will take the gravel road that meets the N7 close to the Eendekuil turnoff. We had a quick
stop just outside Porterville to deflate the tyres before we hit the gravel.

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The first stretch of this road was very nice, but soon we realized that we were entering the Sandveld area and the name says it all. There were patches of sand
on the road and the shadows of the big blue gum trees made it difficult to differentiate between shady spots or sandy spots on the road.

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We made it to the N7 without any major incidents. When we regrouped at the N7 I saw some battle scars on one of the bikes that wasn’t there earlier the day.
I asked “oom” Danhauser what happened and Shaun (his son in law) started to laugh. He said he heard in his comms “Hier gaan ons nou” and when he looked
in his mirror, he only saw headlights and then tyres and his father-in-law rising from a cloud of dust.

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We had a quick stop at the Citrusdal Logde for a ”spier verslapper” before we hit the next section of gravel road towards Clanwilliam.

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The road and the views were just amazing.

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We stopped to regroup at the Algeria crossing before we headed towards Clanwilliam.

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We refueled in Clanwilliam and bumped into some familiar faces heading to Namibia.

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We headed up Pakhuis pass and took the Wupperthal / Eselbank turnoff.
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As always, the views as we descended into the Bidouwvallei were breathtaking and it was nice to see that Wupperthal was restored to its former glory
after the devastating fire in 2019.

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After a quick break we headed up the cement road heading towards Eselbank, little knowing what a bag full of surprises was lying ahead for us.
They had quite a bit of rain recently and the road conditions varied from washed away pieces, sections of loose stones that felt like you were riding on
a bunch of golf balls and not to mention the famous stretch of sand that seems to have multiplied since I was last there.

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“Have faith like potatoes” ... I felt more like ... ”Planted like a potato”

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In the distance you can see the bakkie and a couple of bikes going through a driffie that is washed away with some big exposed rocks. As you exit
the driffie you go into what seems like thousands and thousands of golf balls making it hard to find traction to get up the hill.
 
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Some more sand with some added “golf balls”

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More thick sand in a sharp right-hand corner.

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We arrived safely at Cederberg Oasis shortly after 17h and were welcomed with the lovely aroma of our supper being prepared. The smell off the
food reminded me of the old Dros advert.... ”Jou ma se kos”

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After unpacking and taking a hot shower we headed to the bar for some “spier verslappers” in a liquid form and the delicious smell of the food
made us realize how hungry we are.

Unfortunately, we were too busy chatting to fellow riders and eating from the endless spread of food to take any photos.
 
After a hearty breakfast the Sunday morning we started to pack our bikes and get ready to hit the road. The plan was to go via Katbakkies Pass and to have a quick stop at the Tankwa padstal. There were some interesting characters at the Padstal as people have started to arrive for the Africa Burn that is happening next week

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I wonder who's bike is lurking there in the background.

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The view from Katbakkies Pass

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We took the R355 straight back to Ceres. The road was very busy with all the Africa Burners going to their destination and we rode in the dust of
the oncoming traffic most of the way back.

We stopped in Ceres to refuel before we headed back home via Slanghoek Valley and Du Toit’s Kloof Pass. We said our goodbyes at the end of
Du Toit’s Kloof pass where we split our ways and headed back home. Memories were made and faces were covered with miles of smiles.

The next adventure awaits.....
 
Once in a while I get frustrated with you lot. Kills me that you guys have all these nice riding areas!
 
Nice weekend BlackHawk!
The only time I went through to Eselbank and Wuppertal the road was really solid - I kept on wondering where the bad stuff was 🤔
Your pics now makes me want to go and find the sand and golf balls. And probably let Bliksem have a quick nap 😂
 
Baie dankie vir lekker report.
Ja, daai lang stuk sand bring allerhande monstertjies in my gedagtes :oops:.
Die laaste keer dat ek daar deur is het my 'n paar jaar ouer laat word!
En ek onthou die lang stukke van sweet met daardie los ronde klippies.

Daardie Wupperthal <> Oasis roete is een van die moet-ry-roetes vir ouens wat grondpad ry
Jy kan hom maar oor-en-oor ry, elke trip daar deur is iets besonders
 
Baie dankie vir lekker report.
Ja, daai lang stuk sand bring allerhande monstertjies in my gedagtes :oops:.
Die laaste keer dat ek daar deur is het my 'n paar jaar ouer laat word!
En ek onthou die lang stukke van sweet met daardie los ronde klippies.

Daardie Wupperthal <> Oasis roete is een van die moet-ry-roetes vir ouens wat grondpad ry
Jy kan hom maar oor-en-oor ry, elke trip daar deur is iets besonders
Ek stem saam met oom Danie, die roete bly maar net elke keer iets besonders en het elke keer nuwe of ander verrassings en uitdagings. Ek is seker al so 5-6 keer deur die roete, maar die laaste keer was by verre die mees "interesanste" wat ek dit nog beleef het. Wil hom sommer weer gaan ry.
 
Lekker gelees dankie vir die moeite..
Het my laat terugdink na 'n paar jaar gelede toe ek en @Fenderbender (Roelof) oorgeslaap het by Oasis en die ergste natigheid uitgesit het voodat ons vir @weskus (Dewald) by afdraai na Ou Posroete ontmoet het..oppad na Tented Camp.
Ek het nie geweet daai Wupperthal pad kan so vinnig gedoen word !:oops: Roelof het toe ook nog HP2 gehad
 
before we hit the next section of gravel road

As jy skryf daaroor sal jy die grond tref!! Dankie dat jy die fotos op die mooi manier gelaai het.:D
 
Was it your group that we met in Wupperthal?

The young Dutch couple (Wouter and Miriam) who rode with our group, made a little video of the ride to Wupperthal and back, showing the condition of the road.


They were brave, been riding only 3 months, but they thoroughly enjoyed it.
Sunday they did not return home with us, but went from Oasis via Tankwa to Sutherland, then Monday via Middelpos to Gannaga Lodge for 2 nights.
Just before the lodge, Miriam took a tumble in those deep truck tracks and bent the handlebar badly.
Wouter then carried her on pillion for the rest of their tour, including down Gannaga Pass.
Their insurance went to collect her bike.
They had quite an African adventure
 
Was it your group that we met in Wupperthal?

The young Dutch couple (Wouter and Miriam) who rode with our group, made a little video of the ride to Wupperthal and back, showing the condition of the road.


They were brave, been riding only 3 months, but they thoroughly enjoyed it.
Sunday they did not return home with us, but went from Oasis via Tankwa to Sutherland, then Monday via Middelpos to Gannaga Lodge for 2 nights.
Just before the lodge, Miriam took a tumble in those deep truck tracks and bent the handlebar badly.
Wouter then carried her on pillion for the rest of their tour, including down Gannaga Pass.
Their insurance went to collect her bike.
They had quite an African adventure

Some nice footage there 👍🏻
 
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