noble steed
Race Dog
So we've had Donkey since december 06, got 2nd hand, sorted out all the teething problems.
And may came around and I got my license, so it was time for tulip and I to go see the country! Borrowed a pair of panniers, packed our tent, our sleeping bags, and headed for the coldest places we could think of. The plan was to go offroad as far as possible, but due to some packing problems, late starts, cold mornings etc, only had time to get to gravel on day 3!
So the adventure begins. And between al the luggage Tulip has quite a nice armchair to sit in
The planned route headed out to Delmas, from there we went to nigel, heidelberg, and then on to the vaal dam.
A few Delmas cows
And some sights on heidelberg. I found heidelberg much smqaller than I thought, always takes so long to drive past it on the N3...
Tulip posing at th home affairs building. Th big concrete globe has all the Americas well detailed, Africa is underneath...
Stopped at the Vaal dam for lunch - nice little German guest house, drove past a sign next to the road that said T-bone! Immediate U-turn, and then we didn't even eat the T-bone. Very good food, if you ever want somewhere to drive to. Name of the place is 'Schwaben Stube' phone 0733337750
After a good meal we had to rush through Heilbron, Petrus stein, Bethlehem to Golden gate, arrivd just after sunset with very cold fingers! A lot of loud singing in the helmet to keep warm! Dropped on donkey in the parking lot - just overbalanced topheavy bike on a slope dismounting no damage. Quickly pitched our tent in Donkeys headlights, slept very warmly!! O0 Seriously, Ferino makes a warm tent!
Few pics from next morning
And on our way again, still on tar :-[ heading for my aunts farm in Jamestown (where??) thats somewhere between Aliwal north and dordrecht
The road took us through Fouriesburg, Clocolan, Hobhouse, Ladybrand, Zastron, then to Aliwal. Strong winds made for cold riding. Had a chance to warm up at a farm stall near Clocolan. Even had people taking photos of themselves with donkey while they thought we weren't looking!
Some horses who obviously thought the water was quite warm near Hobhouse
And our final stop of the day outside Zastron. Tulip trying to quickly grab som sweets without me noticing!
Got to the farm after dark, where very thankful for hot meals and electric blankets
Temperatures dropped to -8degrees overnight...
Next morning, 10am, and still can't get anything to drink!! :confused2:
The cows water troughs not too much better - Tulip in the midday sun
My uncle enjoyed a ride on the Donkey - he normally drives a GSX-R750. 'Interesting bike, very interesting' :
Took us for a ride around his farm, mostly there are no roads, and donkey definately not as suitable as his little yamaha. But just goes to show that it's not only BMW riders who stand up...
Way back to the farm house had a mini coconut hill - Donkeys 2nd fall. Also no damage apart from some scratches on hand protectors
And the next day we were off again. 1st day to be all on gravel! Headed from Jamestown to Dordrecht, Barkley east, Rhodes... We had no idea that There was a Naude's neck pass somewhere in the days route, map looked like a simple trip to mount fletcher and beyond... :laughing4:
The road to dordrecht
And tulip gets a chance behind the wheel 8)
Small town churches always more impressive than Pretoria
The road to barkley east, good condition, lovely drive
Our first snow! Donkeys first snow too! Had some fun, now you can se what Santiago boots are really made for!! 8)
The roads between Barkley east and Rhodes, also very good condition, stopped often for photos!
Some of the wildlife. Great sheep country! Aussies would be right at home. If it was 20 degrees warmer ;D
Getting nearer to Rhodes, really beautiful country
When we got to rhodes the shadows where already getting long. And on the other side of the town, there's a little sign which says 'Maclear via Naudes Neck 64km' Firstly we didn't know what Naudes neck was, and 64km, shouldn't take more than 90min, can hit some tar after maclear, find a place to sleep. After 64km, at least 2½hours, we were still on gravel, it was very dark, and we reached a sign which said 'Maclear 64km'. We where too tired to laugh!
Naude's Neck is a beautiful pass, roads are busy been redone, so far they've finished from rhodes till about 5km from the summit, rest quite rocky and loose etc. Drive it soon if you want a challenge! wait 6 months is you want a scenic ride. I would not recommend riding down it in the dark, after you've been in the saddle for 7hours already! that was big contributing factor to a few of our falls on the other side! (3 in total)
Lots of pics of the way up, no pics of the way down... :-\
Still very near rhodes, start of the pass
Getting a bit higher into the snow.
We made time to play again. whats the point of rushing..? (apart from not having to drive dangerous mountain passes in the dark?)
At last we reach the top! And on the other side thought the snow looked very pretty. and then it turned to ice. We stopped taking photos
We eventually saw a farm sign board in the night, and took our chances. Very friendly couple, they're busy opening a guest cottage on their farm. But ben about a month before it's ready, we stayed for free!
Put up in the spare room with an electric blanket again. LOVELY!
I can PM their details if anyone looking for a relaxed place to stay on the other side of the pass...
Total milage for the day: 315km, 9hours
Chance to see the mountain repairs clearly in the daylight
A view from the guest cottage, followed by some other pics of their farm
So we left the farm after a full farm breakfast, driving in strong winds. still took us 2 hours to get to Mount Fletcher. Where in a bit of a rush so not too many photos. From there onto Kokstad, and then Port shepstone, to spend 2 days with Tulips parents.
The roads to mount fletcher
When we got to Port Shepstone Donkey said in his own special way that he'd had enough of the gravel. Meant it changed our trip plans for the way home again. Poor bike
Did some driving around on tar. Would have really liked to buy one, but just didn't have the packing space!!
Relaxing at the beach. really enjoyed those 2 days! though we weren't quite ready to mount donkey at the end of it...
The trip home was supposed to be tar. We left port shepstone heading for ixopo, and the really nice tar road suddenly turned to under construction gravel to bad gravel for about 40km. No photos. And then back to tar. Headed to richmond, onto PMB
And sore bums, lots of breaks to stretch legs! Especially tulip, not much space to move between the luggage! On the up side she slept quite a bit of the way back, very stable wedged between the sleeping bags
Took th R103 through Howick, escourt, a littl to early for sunset over Sterkfontein dam, but thn we where trying to be in Pretoria before nightfall... Ended up taking N3 from harrysmith home, didn't feel like narrow roads in th dark
Last day was 825km, got to Pta half past nine, slept well. Already wanting to plan our next trip! But unfortunately all our leave finished for this year. And now to get Donkeys forked fixed.
2700km, 7days. Nothing beats the cosiness of winter touring ;D ;D ;D
Thanks to ImageShack for Free Image Hosting
And may came around and I got my license, so it was time for tulip and I to go see the country! Borrowed a pair of panniers, packed our tent, our sleeping bags, and headed for the coldest places we could think of. The plan was to go offroad as far as possible, but due to some packing problems, late starts, cold mornings etc, only had time to get to gravel on day 3!
So the adventure begins. And between al the luggage Tulip has quite a nice armchair to sit in
The planned route headed out to Delmas, from there we went to nigel, heidelberg, and then on to the vaal dam.
A few Delmas cows
And some sights on heidelberg. I found heidelberg much smqaller than I thought, always takes so long to drive past it on the N3...
Tulip posing at th home affairs building. Th big concrete globe has all the Americas well detailed, Africa is underneath...
Stopped at the Vaal dam for lunch - nice little German guest house, drove past a sign next to the road that said T-bone! Immediate U-turn, and then we didn't even eat the T-bone. Very good food, if you ever want somewhere to drive to.
Name of the place is 'Schwaben Stube' phone 0733337750
After a good meal we had to rush through Heilbron, Petrus stein, Bethlehem to Golden gate, arrivd just after sunset with very cold fingers! A lot of loud singing in the helmet to keep warm! Dropped on donkey in the parking lot - just overbalanced topheavy bike on a slope dismounting
no damage. Quickly pitched our tent in Donkeys headlights, slept very warmly!! O0 Seriously, Ferino makes a warm tent!Few pics from next morning
And on our way again, still on tar :-[ heading for my aunts farm in Jamestown (where??) thats somewhere between Aliwal north and dordrecht
The road took us through Fouriesburg, Clocolan, Hobhouse, Ladybrand, Zastron, then to Aliwal. Strong winds made for cold riding. Had a chance to warm up at a farm stall near Clocolan. Even had people taking photos of themselves with donkey while they thought we weren't looking!
Some horses who obviously thought the water was quite warm near Hobhouse
And our final stop of the day outside Zastron. Tulip trying to quickly grab som sweets without me noticing!
Got to the farm after dark, where very thankful for hot meals and electric blankets
Temperatures dropped to -8degrees overnight...
Next morning, 10am, and still can't get anything to drink!! :confused2:
The cows water troughs not too much better - Tulip in the midday sun
My uncle enjoyed a ride on the Donkey - he normally drives a GSX-R750. 'Interesting bike, very interesting' :
Took us for a ride around his farm, mostly there are no roads, and donkey definately not as suitable as his little yamaha. But just goes to show that it's not only BMW riders who stand up...
Way back to the farm house had a mini coconut hill - Donkeys 2nd fall. Also no damage apart from some scratches on hand protectors
And the next day we were off again. 1st day to be all on gravel! Headed from Jamestown to Dordrecht, Barkley east, Rhodes... We had no idea that There was a Naude's neck pass somewhere in the days route, map looked like a simple trip to mount fletcher and beyond... :laughing4:
The road to dordrecht
And tulip gets a chance behind the wheel 8)
Small town churches always more impressive than Pretoria
The road to barkley east, good condition, lovely drive
Our first snow! Donkeys first snow too! Had some fun, now you can se what Santiago boots are really made for!! 8)
The roads between Barkley east and Rhodes, also very good condition, stopped often for photos!
Some of the wildlife. Great sheep country! Aussies would be right at home. If it was 20 degrees warmer ;D
Getting nearer to Rhodes, really beautiful country
When we got to rhodes the shadows where already getting long. And on the other side of the town, there's a little sign which says 'Maclear via Naudes Neck 64km' Firstly we didn't know what Naudes neck was, and 64km, shouldn't take more than 90min, can hit some tar after maclear, find a place to sleep. After 64km, at least 2½hours, we were still on gravel, it was very dark, and we reached a sign which said 'Maclear 64km'. We where too tired to laugh!
Naude's Neck is a beautiful pass, roads are busy been redone, so far they've finished from rhodes till about 5km from the summit, rest quite rocky and loose etc. Drive it soon if you want a challenge! wait 6 months is you want a scenic ride. I would not recommend riding down it in the dark, after you've been in the saddle for 7hours already! that was big contributing factor to a few of our falls on the other side! (3 in total)
Lots of pics of the way up, no pics of the way down... :-\
Still very near rhodes, start of the pass
Getting a bit higher into the snow.
We made time to play again. whats the point of rushing..? (apart from not having to drive dangerous mountain passes in the dark?
)
At last we reach the top! And on the other side thought the snow looked very pretty. and then it turned to ice. We stopped taking photos
We eventually saw a farm sign board in the night, and took our chances. Very friendly couple, they're busy opening a guest cottage on their farm. But ben about a month before it's ready, we stayed for free!
Put up in the spare room with an electric blanket again. LOVELY!
I can PM their details if anyone looking for a relaxed place to stay on the other side of the pass...
Total milage for the day: 315km, 9hours
Chance to see the mountain repairs clearly in the daylight
A view from the guest cottage, followed by some other pics of their farm
So we left the farm after a full farm breakfast, driving in strong winds. still took us 2 hours to get to Mount Fletcher. Where in a bit of a rush so not too many photos. From there onto Kokstad, and then Port shepstone, to spend 2 days with Tulips parents.
The roads to mount fletcher
When we got to Port Shepstone Donkey said in his own special way that he'd had enough of the gravel. Meant it changed our trip plans for the way home again. Poor bike
Did some driving around on tar. Would have really liked to buy one, but just didn't have the packing space!!
Relaxing at the beach. really enjoyed those 2 days! though we weren't quite ready to mount donkey at the end of it...
The trip home was supposed to be tar. We left port shepstone heading for ixopo, and the really nice tar road suddenly turned to under construction gravel to bad gravel for about 40km. No photos. And then back to tar. Headed to richmond, onto PMB
And sore bums, lots of breaks to stretch legs! Especially tulip, not much space to move between the luggage! On the up side she slept quite a bit of the way back, very stable wedged between the sleeping bags
Took th R103 through Howick, escourt, a littl to early for sunset over Sterkfontein dam, but thn we where trying to be in Pretoria before nightfall... Ended up taking N3 from harrysmith home, didn't feel like narrow roads in th dark
Last day was 825km, got to Pta half past nine, slept well. Already wanting to plan our next trip! But unfortunately all our leave finished for this year. And now to get Donkeys forked fixed.
2700km, 7days. Nothing beats the cosiness of winter touring ;D ;D ;D
Thanks to ImageShack for Free Image Hosting
