East London - Cradock

[JACOVV]

My wife, Milly had to go to Germany for 12 days and being alone for nearly 2 weeks (kids are allready out of the house),  I decided that something has to be done and that is not to be at home  :biggrin:.  Well, I thought this is a great opportunity for me to arrange a bike trip.  3 routes / trips were on my mind, so I started asking around who would be interested.  Eventually the decision was made to choose East London / Katberg / Cradock.

8 Riders (Pat (Irish) – Afican Twin, Johan  – GS800, Roy – KLE500, Neville – KLE500, Petrus – KLR650, Shane – KTM950, Barry – 250 and myself – GSA1200) was keen to join, so now the planning started.  Big thanks to Irish who helped me with planning the route to Katberg.  He grew up in Stutt / East London area and he shared a lot of knowledge and history regarding the area with us. 

On Saturday, 08 May at 06h30 we all met at the Sasol (Abbotsford) Garage as they have the bast coffee.
 
We immediately left for Stutterheim via tar to save some time as we all knew the local gravel roads that leads up to Stutterheim. 

Here are a few photo’s that were taken during the trip – enjoy!

"Please excuse the quality of the photos as all of us used “mik en druk” and cell phones for photos".

Filling up at Stutterheim. A small town 70km north of East London, well known for the pine woods etc. It's also know for sheep and cattle farming.

On the Damwall of Gubu Dam.

The Gubu Dam, situated halfway between Keiskamma Hoek and Stutterheim, gains its name from the crystal clear stream which has its source at the foot of Mt. Thomas, and the valley in which the dam was built. Gubu is a Xhosa word meaning "drum", much like the drums used by the ancient Xhosa healers and witchdoctors who used to gather medicinal herbs from the region

 

[JACOVV]

https://jmol.co.za/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=453&g2_serialNumber=1

Photo 1  ???

An old prison / jail in Keiskammahoek.

Keiskammahoek lies in a basin at the confluence of the Keiskamma and Gxulu rivers below the Amatola Mountains. The name Keiskamma is of Khoekhoen origin, meaning either 'puffadder river' or 'glittering water'. Here Irish gave us all a lecture about the history of this old building.

 

[BMWPE]

History lesson trip
or
Ride Report  ;D

Keep it coming  :thumleft:

 

[edgy]

Interesting so far! :thumleft:

 

[GlenInk (R.I.P)]

History lesson trip
or
Ride Report  ;D

Keep it coming  :thumleft:

:thumleft:

 

[DRAZIL]

Get them photos developed,waiting for more. :thumleft:

 

[JACOVV]

OK - lets go . . .

The man with all the knowledge – Pat Henchie alias Irish.

Neville with Irish and myself at the background.

Roy

Filling up - Keiskammahoek.

 

[JACOVV]

Thanks ABSA  ;D

That way !!

On the way to Hoggsback for brunch.

Sandile Damwall

 

[JACOVV]

History lesson trip
or
Ride Report  ;D

Keep it coming  :thumleft:

So bietjie kultuur inbring  ;D

Barry is leading the pack . . .

Going into the woods.

Time for a snack.

Just before we entered Hoggsback - overlooking the valley.

And always a KTM nearby  8)  Nice having Shane with us.

Brunch at the Treehouse.

Dik gevreet.

 

[JACOVV]

Barry at the T-Junction to Seymour.

Neville & Shane

We went to Seymour.

Shane coming down Michelle’s Pass. I tried to Google the pass, but with no success.

Johan coming down - nice if you know what to do. 

At Seymour we were again looking for petrol as the next petrol would be in Tarkastad only. Is Roy worried or is Petrus more worried?

At last petrol was bought at a shack – priceless . . .  :

Katberg Hotel & Spa

Overlooking the Katberg area.

Bietjie rus  >

The road ahead.  At the front the road turns to the right and I promise you I was just concentrating not to make any mistakes.  No photos were taken during that +/- 1.5 km.

On top of the world.

Gates. The farmers in the area are well aware if somebody is in the area.

 

[JACOVV]

Royal Hotel in Tarkastad.

Because it was late etc etc, we decided to hit the tar to Cradock.

DAY 2

Getting ready to leave. Today we will be joined by a friend of mine, Henry.

We will leave Cradock, going to Mortimer and then to Witmos (all gravel) via the mountains. At Witmos we’ll have breakfast and then leave for East London (all tar) as some of us have families waiting.

Here Johan is thinking . . . . 10c for your thoughts Johan.

Cradock is named after Sir John Cradock – 1812. This is the Dutch Reformed Church in Cradock of which there is a replica in London – St Martin’s-in-the-Fields. When the building was completed, the builder didn’t want to hand over the keys of the church at the opening ceremony as there was still money outstanding. Within a few hours enough money was collected to pay the builder – August 1868.

Overlooking the Mortimer area.

Breakfast time  ;D

From here we were on tar all the way.

Hope you enjoyed it.

Be good.  Jaco

 

[BMWPE]

Nice area to ride in
Thanks for posting  :thumleft:

 

[michnus]

Some really funny comments J 

Who was on the KLR, Mr Booth?

 

[Rocstompa]

Looks like a great trip with a nice history to it.Well done

 

[wolweseun]

Nice

Daggaboer Padstaal Is Bus's In Laws place

 

[DRAZIL]

really enjoyable,I think I have to spend some quality time in that Gubu area with all those great dams and gravel roads to explore.
Thanks Jaco :thumleft: :thumleft:

 

[Thump]

Thanks dude

Nice ride

 

[DeonS]

JMOL.
You won't find a "Michelle's Pass" - It's "Michel's Pass" 

https://www.hogsback.za.net/history.htm  "The fort and Michel’s Pass to Seymour were named after Colonel Michel who was in charge of the troops in Fort Beaufort."

Would love to ride that area again!
Deon

 

[JACOVV]

Some really funny comments J 

Who was on the KLR, Mr Booth?

Thanks Michnus.

No - it was Petrus Swanepoel also from Liberty  ;D

 

[JACOVV]

JMOL.
You won't find a "Michelle's Pass" - It's "Michel's Pass" 

https://www.hogsback.za.net/history.htm  "The fort and Michel’s Pass to Seymour were named after Colonel Michel who was in charge of the troops in Fort Beaufort."

Would love to ride that area again!
Deon

Thanks Deon.

I was planning a whole "history" thing as I grew up in Cradock, but TIME . . .

Planning to go back there for a few days in the mountains.